Touched by Nurses, Retired Judge Gives UA $100,000 for Nursing Scholarship

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It’s hard to impress a 90-year-old lawyer who, even after retiring as Tuscaloosa’s municipal judge in 1984, still comes into the office. Yet, Gordon Rosen was so impressed by the nurses who helped his brother that he donated $100,000 to Capstone College of Nursing at The University of Alabama to create an endowed scholarship.

“As I grew older I had more occasions to be in hospitals, especially with my oldest brother,” Rosen said. “I had seen nurses operate and came to appreciate the profession. It’s a calling. It’s a noble profession. If I can do anything to assist them, any financial help, that’s what I want to do.”

Rosen and his wife, Ann, decided to create the Gordon and Ann Rosen Endowed Nursing Scholarship to benefit incoming freshmen nursing students who meet academic requirements and have a financial need.

After serving as a lieutenant in World War II and earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of New Mexico, Rosen enrolled in The University of Alabama School of Law and received his juris doctorate in 1949. He cofounded the Tuscaloosa law firm Rosen Harwood, P.A., in 1967.

“Law has been rewarding in many ways,” Rosen explained, “but with my resources I’d like to encourage people to go into the nursing profession.”