Ouida Elaine Spleen was born in Jamaica, West Indies, where she completed her education to the Diploma in Nursing level. Following her marriage to Lennox S. Westney, she moved with her husband to the United States, where they furthered their educations.
Attending Washington Adventist University (then known as Washington Missionary College) from 1957-1959, Ouida E. Spleen Westney earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing education. She later received both a Master of Science degree in nursing education and a Ph.D. in human development education from the University of Maryland. Additional training followed in marriage and family enrichment at both Pepperdine and Andrews universities. She taught Maternal and Child Nursing at the University of Maryland, and from 1968 until her retirement in 1993, she worked in professorial and administrative positions at Howard University.
Ouida E. Spleen Westney and her husband, a physician, spent many years as facilitators in Adventist Family Ministry – working on local and General Conference Family Life Committees, co-authoring publications, and making numerous types of family ministry presentations. She served on the Board of Washington Adventist University (when it was known as Columbia Union College) from 1981-1986.
The Nursing Endowed Scholarship was established by Ouida Westney, her husband, and their three children in appreciation for the outstanding teaching and support she received from the nursing faculty at Washington Adventist University (then named Washington Missionary College) during her enrollment.
Westney considers her greatest nursing care involvement to have been that of ministering to her own dear husband during his long illness with Parkinson’s disease. She is grateful to God for her three children, four grandchildren and many family members who are continual blessings to her.
She is pleased regarding the growth of her Alma Mater from college to university status, and continues to pray and aid in its efforts to be an outstanding and effective Christian academic institution.