Dr. Barbara Ann Durand spent four years at the College of St. Teresa in Winona, Minnesota, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A Master's of Science in Maternal Child Nursing followed at the University of California, San Francisco and her doctorate was bestowed at the University of San Francisco.

Her trailblazing career took her from her staff nursing position at Stanford Medical Center to teaching positions at the University of California San Francisco, Cornell University School of Nursing in New York City and then as the Department Chair of Maternal Child Nursing at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago.

Along the way she co-authored a medical textbook, was a Robert Wood Johnson fellow and continued to increase awareness of the need for first class nursing.

In 1993, she was appointed Dean of the College of Nursing at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, a position she loved and worked hard for until her retirement in June, 2004. While at Arizona State, Dr. Durand elevated the Nursing School's status with her innovations and expansion of programs designed to better prepare nurses for work in the 21st Century. Under her leadership, the program received its first ever ranking (top 15%) from US News and World Report. She instituted a PhD program in nursing, increased the endowment substantially and increased enrollment, a goal necessary to fulfill the pressing need for nurses nationwide.

She had season football tickets and was very proud when a male nursing student made the team. Barbara was deeply committed to the nursing profession and held many leadership positions, both at the state and national level. One of her greatest accomplishments was co-founding the first pediatric nurse practitioner program at UC San Francisco. She directed that program for 18 years and she played a significant national role in advocating for and promotion of the nurse practitioner movement and advanced nursing practice. She testified in Congress and gave hundreds of speeches to doctors, nurses, educators, and medical care administrators all over the country. Her national awards and appointments are far too numerous to mention here, but some deserve acknowledgement. In 2019, one of the highest honors anyone in her field could achieve was bestowed on her: The Barbara Durand Presidential Chair in Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. Barbara was also named a Living Legend in Nursing, one of 50 so named out of nearly 5 million nurses in America. She was named a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and was the only nurse to ever be elected to the Board of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association. Her accomplishments were legendary.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, and is survived by a sister and two additional brothers.

A Funeral Mass was celebrated on November 21, 2025. if you choose to make a donation, please consider Hospice of the Valley who provided loving care for her and her family.