Nancy Stowe Kader graduated from Ben Lomond High School, Ogden, Utah then enrolled at Brigham Young University, where she earned a BS in nursing. She worked as an RN for over 20 years in critical care nursing (10 years of which were at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center). While living in Utah, she served on the Utah State Board of Nursing. Her true love is ICU, because, "Every ethical issue confronts you there. It made me think about the theory behind it what does it mean to society which eventually prompted my interest in pursuing ethics as a PhD study."
Nancy met her husband, Omar, while a student at BYU. He taught political science and international relations at BYU for several years before the family moved to Virginia, at which time he launched his own business, providing consulting for government contract work around the world. His expertise in terrorism is a significant element in the broad scope of his company.
Nancy earned a PhD from the University of Maryland in 2005 in philosophy, with an emphasis in bioethics. She has been an adjunct faculty, teaching professional ethics, medical ethics, and introduction to ethics; she is also qualified to teach philosophy. She has worked as a consultant in managed care and efficiency studies, both in private industry and government contracting. She has also worked at the Institute of Medicine, the medical research branch of the National Academy of Science. She is currently a member of a state-wide board that allocates and provides health services for the state of Virginia and assists in decisions on certificate of need, relative to hospital growth and expansion. Writing is an enjoyable diversion, and she has published an article in a journal for social workers. Nancy also provides ethics case reviews for a large fertility clinic in the DC area, assisting them on their ethical issues.
Hobbies include reading (history, detective novels, philosophy) and being involved in politics. While living in Utah she was chair of the Utah County Democratic Party and ran the county campaign to elect Governor Scott Matheson.
Of her experience as an undergraduate student, Nancy says, "One of the things I liked about BYU was that the curriculum was scientifically grounded and provided a larger world view. I like their international program. It is very important to advance the nursing profession and look to hard science. Nursing is based in science---patient care consists of much more than backrubs---and while some people still think of nurses as nothing more than 'nice girls', we need to demonstrate that our practice is established on a huge, difficult knowledge base and that nursing is a scientific branch of the field of medicine."
The Kaders, who live in Vienna, Virginia, have four sons, three of whom live on the East coast, and one in California. They eagerly anticipate the birth of their second grandchild in 2008.