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Myrtle Elizabeth Kitchell "Kitch" Aydelotte (May 31, 1917 – January 7, 2010) was an American nurse, professor and hospital administrator. She served as CEO of the American Nurses Association, director of nursing for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the first dean of the the University of Iowa's nursing program, making her the first female academic dean at the university. Aydelotte was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1976 and was designated a Living Legend by the same organization in 1994.

Early Life and Education
Myrtle Kitchell Aydelotte was born on May 31, 1917 in Van Meter, Iowa to John J. Kitchell and Lavara Josephine Gutshall. She was the youngest daughter of ten children. As a child, her family moved to Ada, Minnesota. In 1933, Aydelotte graduated as valedictorian of Ada High School at the age of sixteen. After taking a year off from school, she entered into a five-year baccalaureate nursing program where she received her degree in 1939 from the University of Minnesota. She received her master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1948 and her doctorate degree from the university in 1955.

Professional Career
As a newly baccalaureate-educated nurse, Aydelotte accepted a head nurse position at Charles T. Miller Hospital in St. Paul from 1939 to 1941. She then served as a surgical teaching supervisor at St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1941 to 1942. She received her master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1948 and her doctorate degree from the university in 1955. During World War II, Aydelotte served in the Army Nurse Corps as an assistant chief nurse at the 26th General Hospital in North Africa in 1942, and later became the chief nurse at the 52nd Station Hospital in Italy in 1945. Upon returning from the war, she taught at the University of Minnesota while pursuing her master's degree in education, which she received in 1948. From 1949 to 1956, Aydelotte served as the director and dean of nursing at the University of Iowa. She received her PhD from Minnesota in 1955. In 1956, Aydelotte stepped down as dean at Iowa but continued as professor while she focused more on her family.

During her tenure as dean, Iowa had transformed its nursing program from a three-year hospital-based program to a four-year academic program. She was the first female academic dean at Iowa. A few years later, Aydelotte took a research position at the Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa City while maintaining her position at the university. She became the nursing director of the university's hospitals and clinics in 1968. In 1973 she was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine.

She retired from her academic and hospital positions in 1976. Aydelotte served as Chief Executive Officer of the American Nurses Association from 1977 to 1981.

Aydelotte was honored as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1976 and, in 1994, was honored as a Living Legend by the organization, the first year that the academy awarded that designation. She received the Sigma Theta Tau Hall of Fame Award in the same year. An endowed research professorship for doctoral students was established in Aydelotte's name at the University of Iowa in 1993.

Personal Life
Aydelotte was married to William O. Aydelotte, a University of Iowa professor and National Academy of Sciences member who twice chaired the school's history department, from 1956 to his death in 1996. Following her retirement, She and her husband moved to Rochester, New York, where they raised their two children, Marie, born in 1957, and Jeanette, born in 1959. Aydelotte passed away in her home in Rochester on January 7, 2010, at the age of 92.