Margaret Scott Wright

First professor of nursing in the UK and first Chair of Nursing Studies in Europe.

Margaret Scott Wright completed a graduate degree in art history at the University of Edinburgh. Following this, she enrolled at St George's Hospital of Nursing in London, England where she achieved her certification in midwifery.

Margaret carried out research in the Department of Public Health, and gained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1968, with the help of a Boots Scholarship. Margaret succeeded Elsie Stephenson as Director of the Nursing Studies Unit. In 1971, and became the first Chair in Nursing Studies in Europe, and obtained a Post Graduate World Health Organization Diploma in Medical Services Administration from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Edinburgh.

Margaret Scott Wright
Photo courtesy of Nursing Studies, University of Edinburgh
She was also a member of the influential Briggs committee, set up by the UK government in the early 1970s, which recommended better degree preparation for nurses in order to “recruit people with innovative flair and leadership qualities."

Dr. Wright passed away in March 2008.