One woman’s vision and passion: Betty Irene Moore

The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis proudly bears the name of a passionate woman dedicated to improving the quality of health care. For more than a decade, Mrs. Moore has been an advocate for patients and families, a champion of nursing and a pioneer for improving health care. She is the co-founder of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which committed $100 million in 2007 to launch the School of Nursing at UC Davis.

Through Mrs. Moore’s vision, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation led a movement to improve patient care through nurses. This was based on her personal experiences when in the hospital and in caring for others who had been hospitalized. Mrs. Moore saw how nurses play a critical role in the delivery of safe, quality health care and set out to improve it by investing in the very people who deliver 95 percent of the care people receive. This vision is further amplified by the school’s approach to nursing education, in which nurses are prepared to lead the changes necessary in health care.

“I had the deeply meaningful opportunity to personally express my gratitude to Betty and Gordon Moore at her home earlier this year,” says Heather M. Young, founding dean. “Betty assured me our work aligns with what she envisioned for her school. She shared excitement for Betty Irene Moore Hall and our work in family caregiving, as she has had much personal experience caring for members of her family.”

Gordon Moore is most widely recognized for co-founding Intel Corporation in 1968 and for Moore’s Law, a guiding idea in the semi-conductor industry. The couple established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2000 to develop projects that improve the quality of life for future generations and make positive changes in the world.