WASHINGTON, D.C., February 11, 2019 – The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce the results of its 2019 election to fill seats on the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee. With votes cast by nearly two-thirds of all member deans from the nation's nursing schools with baccalaureate and higher degree programs, those selected to serve as AACN's top leaders include Board Members Susan Bakewell-Sachs (chair-elect) from Oregon Health & Science University; Lin Zhan (treasurer) from the University of Memphis; Jean Giddens from Virginia Commonwealth University; Judith Karshmer from the Arizona State University; Julie Sanford from James Madison University; and Terri Weaver from the University of Illinois at Chicago. New members of AACN's Nominating Committee include Steven Cavanagh from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Jeannette Andrews from the University of South Carolina.
"The key to AACN's effectiveness as a champion for excellence and innovation in academic nursing has always been our engaged and loyal members," said AACN Board Chair Ann Cary, PhD, MPH, RN, FNAP, FAAN. "On behalf of the association, I am pleased to welcome these new and returning leaders to the Board and Nominating Committee, and I applaud their strong commitment to advancing the goals and mission of AACN."
Those elected to the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee will begin their terms of service following the business meeting at AACN’s Deans Annual Meeting on March 25, 2019. New and re-elected Board members include:
Susan Bakewell-Sachs, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and vice president for nursing affairs at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing, was elected as Chair-Elect and will serve as Board Chair from 2020-2022. Prior to assuming her current role at OHSU in 2013, Dr. Bakewell-Sachs served as nursing faculty at the University of Pennsylvania; program director, professor and dean at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) School of Nursing, Health & Exercise Science; and Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at TCNJ. As a strong nurse advocate, she was the director of the RWJF New Jersey Nursing Initiative, chair of the New Jersey Association of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs, member of the March of Dimes National Nursing Advisory Council, and on the steering committee of the Oregon Action Coalition. In support of AACN's mission, Dr. Bakewell-Sachs has served on the Governance Task Force, as chair of the Program Committee and the CNL Steering Committee, member of the Government Affairs Committee, and state grassroots liaison for New Jersey and Oregon, among other key roles.
Lin Zhan, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and professor of the Loewenberg College of Nursing at the University of Memphis, was elected to serve a two-year term as Board Treasurer. An award-winning nurse educator who has taught students from the BSN to the PhD level, Dr. Zhan's research focuses on quality of life for older adults and ethnic minorities. With over 100 publications including five edited books, her scholarly work extends to serving as a reviewer for the refereed journals Nursing Education, Nursing Research, Advanced Nursing Sciences, Nursing Reports, and on the editorial board for the Journal of Gerontological Nursing and the Journal of Aging and Medicine. A recipient of many top honors, Dr. Zhan is a Wharton Executive Fellow and a Fellow of American Academy of Nursing. For AACN, she has served as Board Member at-large, on the Program Committee as the chair of the Faculty Development Conference and the Executive Development Series, as a reviewer of the AACN-Johnson & Johnson Minority Faculty Scholarship, and as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Jean Giddens, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), was elected to serve a two-year term as Board member at-large. Prior to her appointment at VCU in 2013, Dr. Giddens held several leadership positions at the University of New Mexico School of Nursing, including executive dean from 2010-2013, as well as teaching roles at Mesa State College, University of Texas-El Paso, and Eastern New Mexico University. In addition to currently serving as president for the Virginia Association of Colleges of Nursing, she is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Professional Nursing, Nurse Educator and the Journal of Nursing Education. For AACN, Dr. Giddens has served on the Vision for Nursing Education Task Force, Nominating Committee, and on the Program Planning Committees for the Master's Conference, Executive Development Series, and Faculty Development Conference. She currently serves on the AACN Essentials Revision Task Force as chair of the Baccalaureate Essentials Workgroup.
Judith Karshmer, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, dean and professor at the Arizona State University (ASU) College of Nursing and Health Innovation, was elected to serve a two-year term as Board member at-large. Prior to her appointment at ASU in 2018, she served as professor, dean, and dean emerita at the University of San Francisco from 2006-2018. Her previous academic appointments included roles at the University of South Florida and New Mexico State University. Dr. Karshmer's leadership in the community and on behalf of the profession includes serving as commissioner on the San Francisco Department of Public Health, board chair for the Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehabilitation Center, president of the California Association of Colleges of Nursing, and president of the Jesuit Conference of Nursing Programs. At AACN, she has served on the AACN-AONE Academic-Practice Partnerships Task Force and as a member of the Competency-Based Education for Doctoral Prepared APRNs National Task Force. Her extensive service to the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education includes board chair, treasurer, and board member.
Julie Sanford, DNS, RN, FAAN, professor and director of the School of Nursing at James Madison University (JMU), was elected to serve a two-year term as Board member at-large. Prior to arriving at JMU in 2011, her career in nursing education included leadership and teaching roles at the University of South Alabama, University of Southern Mississippi, and Spring Hill College. Her leadership within the profession extends to serving as vice chair of the Virginia Association of Colleges of Nursing, executive director of the Caregivers Community Network, and member of the Virginia Action Coalition's Education Progression sub-committee. For AACN, she has served on the Nominating and Government Affairs Committees, as chair of the Baccalaureate Education Conference Planning Committee, as a state grassroots liaison, as a CCNE team leader, as a member of the CCNE Report Review Committee, and as a mentor in the New Dean Mentoring program. She is a graduate of the AACN-Wharton Executive Leadership Program.
Terri E. Weaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, ATSF, dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, was re-elected to serve a two-year term as an AACN Board member at-large. Prior to her current academic appointment in 2010, Dr. Weaver was the Ellen and Robert Kapito Professor in Nursing Science and served for eight years as the Chair of the Biobehavioral Health Sciences Division at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She has earned national recognition for her research, serving on the executive committee of the World Federation of Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies and has had several board appointments, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Board of Sleep Medicine, American Sleep Medicine Foundation, American Academy of Nursing, Sleep Research Society, American Lung Association, and American Thoracic Society. For AACN, Dr. Weaver has served on the Nominating Committee, the Hot Topics Conference Planning Committee, and as a mentor in the New Deans Mentoring Program.
Continuing members of the AACN Board of Directors include Chair Ann Cary from the University of Missouri Kansas City; Secretary Jean Leuner from Auburn University Montgomery; Lepaine Sharp-McHenry from Oklahoma Baptist University; Christie Shelton from Jacksonville State University; and Kristen Swanson from Seattle University.
The newly elected members to AACN's Nominating Committee include:
Jeannette Andrews, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and Helen Gurley Wolford professor of nursing for the University of South Carolina (UofSC) College of Nursing, was elected to serve a two-year term on the Nominating Committee. Prior to her appointment at UofSC in 2013, she held a variety of academic nursing leader roles at the Medical University of South Carolina (including associate dean for research, director of the Center for Community Health Partnerships, senior research scientist and associate professor) and at the Medical College of Georgia (including department chair, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor). Active in the American Nurses Association, the South Carolina Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International, Dr. Andrews has been an engaged AACN member since 2013 who has served as a State Grassroots Liaison and as a mentor in the New Deans Mentoring Program.
Stephen Cavanagh, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing, was elected to serve a two-year term on the Nominating Committee. Prior to his current appointment as dean in 2011, his work at Wayne State University in Detroit, included serving as CEO and board chair for the school's Nursing Practice Corporation, associate dean, and assistant dean. Earlier in his career he worked as professor and department head for several schools in England, including the Birmingham and Solihull College of Nursing and Midwifery, Nene College, University of Wolverhampton, and North East Surrey College of Technology. Dr. Cavanagh serves on the AACN Finance Committee and has served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing and board member for the Clean Slate Opioid Addiction Research Program.
Other Nominating Committee members include Janet Krejci from Marquette University, Lillia Loriz from the University of North Florida, and Juliann Sebastian from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
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The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the voice for academic nursing representing more than 820 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate nursing education. AACN works to establish quality standards for nursing education; assists schools in implementing those standards; influences the nursing profession to improve health care; and promotes public support for professional nursing education, research, and practice. Learn more at www.aacnnursing.org.
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