This endowment provides one-year awards to support short-term research mentorships for School of Nursing faculty members.

The objective of the award is to assist individual faculty members in their research goals. This may involve developing a five-year research career trajectory with a specific plan to develop or strengthen a research program, developing research proposals, providing critical review for proposals and manuscripts, assisting the faculty member to learn a new methodology or approach, or providing general advice to improve the faculty member’s likelihood of success in their research. Mentors may be at UB or outside the university. Mentorships may involve short visits spread out over a 12-month perior, or longer blocks of time within the year. Faculty may meet with their mentors at UB, at the mentor’s institution, or at professional conferences.

Edward Cranley, husband of the late Dean Mecca Cranley, established this fund along with more than 100 individuals who made memorial gifts.

Mecca S. Cranley, Ph.D., R.N., served as the Dean of the School of Nursing at UB from 1991-2006. During Cranley’s 15 years as dean, the nursing school increased its enrollment through several innovative new academic degree and certificate programs, and aggressively pursued research dollars. The school jumped from 73rd to 43rd among U.S. nursing schools in National Institutes of Health funding during her tenure.