Co-contributors –
Karen J. Foli, Cindy Smith Greenberg,
Erin Greenberg, Pamela Burke,
and Brigit VanGraafeiland

In Memoriam
Guardian of the Discipline

Julia (Julie) Snethen (1959-2026),
Professor and Director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee PhD Program.

Julie began her career in nursing with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (1983) from Graceland College. She continued her education with a master’s in nursing science in Maternal-Child Nursing at the University of Texas in Galveston, followed by a doctorate and post-doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee spanned over 25 years, culminating in earning full professorship and directing their PhD program. Julie was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2017. 

Julie’s clinical background and scholarship focused on children with chronic conditions evolving over her career from caring for children with end-stage renal disease into promoting health and wellness for children and families. Her work encompassed topics such as childhood obesity, discrimination, the impact of toxic stress on children and families, pediatric end-of-life care, palliative care, adoptive, foster, and kinship families, and nurses’ roles and competencies in these fields.

Julie gave generously of her time and talents helping other nurses learn, grow, and develop. She was active in the Midwest Nursing Research Society, the Society of Pediatric Nurses, and her local chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). Julie also played a pivotal role as a Faculty Advisor in STTI’s Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leadership Academy. A prolific writer, Julie was also an associate editor for Nursing Outlook and active in the American Academy of Nursing, chairing the past Child/Adolescent/Family Expert Panel (C/A/F) in 2019-2020.

A group of us met Julie through the AAN and the C/A/F Expert Panel, and she was the lynchpin to gathering all of us as a writing group: Cindy Greenberg, Brigit VanGraafeiland, Erin Greenberg, Pamela Burke, and Karen Foli. Julie had a gift for creating environments that supported and connected people, making others feel that they were special and their work important. Each of us had something to offer related to adoptive, foster, and kinship families and nurses’ roles and competencies, topics often overlooked in nursing literature. Over the past few years, we have created a body of work; one of her last articles (Snethen et al., 2026), published a few weeks before her untimely passing, was written in large part due to Julie’s belief that doing good for society is important.

Julie is also credited for a much larger body of work with other noted nursologists. A great humanitarian and through this important literature, Julie endeavored to give voice for those and to those with little power.  She worked relentlessly against discrimination (e.g., Bowen et al., 2025). She believed that expressing the needs of voices who are often silenced or ignored is our nursing ethos, part of our existential selves and embodied through praxis such as publications and stewarding the next generation of nursologists.

Julie had an enormous influence on doctoral students, a perspective represented within this writing group.  She played a meaningful role in guiding students toward advanced study at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, often recognizing potential before it was fully realized. Her encouragement and belief in her students were instrumental in prompting the pursuit of doctoral education. She ensured that those who came from outside the United States were cared for. She provided coats and food when needed, often at her own expense. She supported their intellectual growth by challenging them at the right moments and allowing small failures to become meaningful learning experiences. Julie cultivated an environment in which students felt seen, capable, and valued, inviting them into her home and modeling the values of compassionate scholarship. As an example of her commitment to building a community of nursing scholars, she held optional open Zoom meetings on Sunday evenings where PhD students could raise questions, brainstorm ideas, or seek advice. Even for those whose time learning directly from her was brief, her impact was immediate and enduring. Her influence is embedded within the culture of the PhD program she led and will continue to shape future generations of nursologists.

Julie will be remembered for all the works she did for nursing and for society. Certainly, her tireless dedication to nurse academic organizations and societies will be remembered. But mostly, she will be remembered for her acts of kindness, her prolific and important publications, and her life ambition to always do the right thing.

References (Select and in reverse chronological order)

Snethen, J. A., Greenberg, C. S., Foli, K. J., Greenberg, E., Burke, P. J., & VanGraafeiland, B. (2026). Caring for youth who are transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive: Why nursing care and support matters. Nursing Outlook, 74(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2025.102624. Online ahead of print.

Bowen, F.R., Greenberg, C., Burke, P. Outlaw, F., Lewandowski, L., McDowell, B.M., Sims, G., Snethen, J., DeSocio, J., & Gary, F. (advance online publication 2025). A primer for nurses on the historical policy of redlining. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, S0891-5245(25)00273-1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2025.09.011   

Foli, K. J., VanGraafeiland, B., Greenberg, E., Snethen, J., & Greenberg, C. (2025). The mental health needs of adoptive, kinship, and foster parents: Cultural competence column. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 46(12), 1277-1285.  https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2025.2555879

Foli, K. J., VanGraafeiland, B., Snethen, J. A., & Greenberg, C. (2022). Caring for nontraditional families: Kinship, foster, and adoptive. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 27, e12388. https://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12388

Browne, N. T., Hodges, E. A., Small, L., Snethen, J. A., Frenn, M., Irving, S. Y., Gance-Cleveland, B., & Greenberg, C.S. (2022). Childhood obesity within the lens of racism. Pediatric Obesity, 17(5), e12878. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12878

 Bowen, F.R., Lewandowski, L.A., Snethen, J.A., Childs, G., Outlaw, F.H., Greenberg, C.S., Burke, P.J., Sloand, E., Gary, F., & DeSocio, J. (2022). A schema of toxic stress informed by racism, transgenerational stress, and disadvantage. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 36(2), 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2021.08.005

About the Authors:

This author group met through the previous Child Adolescent Family Expert Panel of the American Academy of Nursing. Sharing a common interest in adoptive, kinship, and foster families and youth, we started writing articles to educate nurses about the needs of such families and youth and outline best practices for nursing interventions and policy.  

Cindy Greenberg and Julie Snethen contributed knowledge of pediatric and adolescent care and brought writing and editing expertise. Karen J. Foli is a recognized expert in adoption, completing extensive research, writing, and consultation in the field. Brigit VanGraafeiland is recognized for her work in foster care advocacy and is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with clinical practice and expertise caring for vulnerable youth and trauma-informed care. Recognizing the need to enhance the group’s expertise in adolescent mental health and emergency care, Pam Burke and Erin Greenberg were added to the team.