Obituary for Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Ruth Schröck

With Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Ruth Schröck, one of the great personalities of professional nursing in Germany, passed away on the evening of 30 December 2023 at the age of 92. She was closely associated with the Department of Nursing Science at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) until the end.

Ruth Schröck was born in Berlin on 7 July 1931. In 1949, she obtained her general higher education entrance qualification and then studied biology, philosophy and sport at the Free University of Berlin. In Bristol, England, she completed both general and psychiatric nursing training and graduated in nursing science, philosophy and social science from the University of Edinburgh. She worked as a ward sister in Bristol and Edinburgh, and later as a teacher of psychiatric nursing at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. She lectured in psychiatric nursing, education and psychology at the University of Edinburgh.

After working as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, and completing her doctorate at the University of Edinburgh, she was employed as Professor and Head of the Department of Health and Nursing at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. In 1987, Ruth Schröck accepted an appointment at the then Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, where she was the first female nursing professor to head up the nursing degree programmes.

In 1997, she took over the Chair of Nursing Science at Witten/Herdecke University and, with the support of the Robert Bosch Foundation, established the first doctoral programme in nursing science in Germany. In connection with its further development, Prof. Dr Wilfried Schnepp transformed the two-year graduate college into a structured three-year doctoral college in 2010, followed by the introduction of the internationally recognised Ph.D. degree in 2012. The college supports nursing scientists on their path to a doctorate and prepares them for a career at a university or in non-university, scientific management positions. Ruth Schröck headed the Research Training Group for almost ten years and supervised doctoral students until 2022.

Ruth Schröck was also active outside of universities as a member of numerous committees in the field of nursing science, research and practice. In addition to the honorary doctorate "Doctor of Letters" from the University of Glamorgan in Wales in 1998, she was honoured with the honorary doctorate "Doctor of Science in Social Science" from the University of Edinburgh in 2005 and the honorary doctorate "Dr. rer. medic. h. c." from the University of Witten/Herdecke in 2007. She was an honorary member of the "Nursing Studies Association of the University of Edinburgh", the "German Professional Association for Nursing Professions" and the "German Society for Nursing Science". Ruth Schröck has also received numerous awards, including the Nursing Prize of the German Nursing Council, the Robert Bosch Foundation Medal and the Agnes Karll Medal of the German Professional Association for Nursing Professions. In October 2017, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class.

With her legendary saying "There is no reason to do nothing", Ruth Schröck will be fondly remembered as a pioneer of German nursing science and a passionate advocate for the professionalisation of nursing, where the focus is always on the individual. Her death leaves behind a deep sense of sadness, but also the obligation to continue her legacy and to drive forward the developments in nursing science that she started. Even during her lifetime, the Department of Nursing Sciences at UW/H organised an annual Ruth Schröck Symposium, in which a selected doctoral thesis from the Doctoral College of Nursing Science, which she founded, was presented. In this tradition, she will be remembered in the department and by future generations.

In Ruth Schröck we have lost a visionary, scientist, mentor, colleague and friend. We will miss her very much.

The staff of the Department of Nursing Science on behalf of the university community