AACN Announces Election Results

AACN Announces Election Results for New Members of the
Board of Directors and Nominating Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 15, 2017– The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce the results of its 2017 election to fill seats on the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee. With votes cast by nearly 75% 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 from Oregon Health & Science University; Philip Greiner from San Diego State University; Teri Murray from Saint Louis University; Terri Weaver from the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Lin Zhan from the University of Memphis. New members of AACN's Nominating Committee include Barbara Ihrke from Indiana Wesleyan University and Victoria Niederhauser from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Teri Murray, PhD, APHN-BC, RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing at Saint Louis University, was re-elected as AACN Board Treasurer. Having served more than 30 years as an academic nursing leader, Dr. Murray has held a variety of teaching roles over the course of her career – from instructor to clinical professor to associate director to dean. While currently serving on the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, Board of Mercy Regional East Hospital Ministries, and as immediate past president of the Nurses for Newborns Foundation, her previous leadership roles included president of the Missouri State Board of Nursing and Missouri delegate to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. As a dedicated champion of AACN, Dr. Murray has served as Board member at-large, chair of the Government Affairs Committee, member of the New Careers in Nursing National Advisory Committee, mentor in the New Dean Mentoring Program, member of the Futures Task Force (and several other task forces), and chair of the Doctoral Advancement in Nursing program.

Susan Bakewell-Sachs, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN, dean and vice president for nursing affairs at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing, was re-elected as an AACN Board Member at-Large. 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 currently serves as Chair of the Program Committee and has worked as Chair of the CNL Steering Committee, member of the Government Affairs Committee, and State Grassroots Liaison for New Jersey and Oregon, among other key roles.

Philip Greiner, DNSc, RN, professor and director of the School of Nursing at San Diego State University (SDSU), was newly elected to serve a two-year term as an AACN Board Member at-Large. Prior to his current appointment at SDSU in 2012, Dr. Greiner held a variety of teaching and leadership roles at Pace University, Fairfield University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Kentucky, Villanova University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has been active over the years in a number of national and state organizations, including the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, Association of Community Health Nurse Educators, and the National Nursing Centers Consortium. A 2010 Fellow of the Leadership for Academic Nursing Program, Dr. Greiner currently serves on AACN's Government Affairs Committee, was a member of AACN's Futures Task Force and the Nominating Committee, is a State Grassroots Liaison, and has been an active member and chair of the Organizational Leadership Network.

Terri E. Weaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, was newly 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.

Lin Zhan, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and professor of the Loewenberg College of Nursing at the University of Memphis, was newly elected as an AACN Board Member at-Large. 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. 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. 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 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 awards, and as a current member of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group.

Continuing members of the AACN Board of Directors include Chair Juliann Sebastian from the University of Nebraska Medical Center; Chair-Elect Ann Cary from the University of Missouri Kansas City; Secretary Judy Beal from Simmons College, Cynthia McCurren from the Grand Valley State University; Anita Hufft from Texas Woman's University; and Lepaine Sharp-McHenry from Oklahoma Baptist University. The newly elected members to AACN's Nominating Committee include:

Barbara Ihrke, PhD, RN, Vice President for Academic Affairs and professor of nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), was elected to serve a two-year term on the Nominating Committee. In addition to teaching full time at IWU since 1994, her areas of expertise include transcultural nursing and tropical health, Dr. Ihrke has presented her transcultural research at various national and international conferences. Her research areas include cultural competence of students, spiritual care, as well as the impact of Zika on La Gonave, Haiti. She is published in Teaching and Nursing: A Guide for Faculty (Billings and Halstead) and Essentials in e-Learning for Nurse Educators (Bristol and Zerwekh). In support of AACN's work, she has served on the Government Affairs Committee; on the Program Committee as Chair of the Hot Issues Conference and the Master's Education Conference; and as a State Grassroots Liaison.

Victoria Niederhauser, DrPH, RN, PCPNP-BC, FAAN, dean and professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Nursing, was elected to serve a two-year term on the Nominating Committee. Prior to her current position, she held various leadership roles at the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene and held academic appointments at George Mason University and George Washington University. Dr. Niederhauser has published the book Core Review for Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioners and has authored over 50 articles and book chapters on child health and educational issues. She has received funding for nursing research and training grants totaling over $6.6 million. Dr. Niederhauser is a board certified pediatric nurse practitioner, a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Active in AACN, she has served on the Hot Issues program committee, as a Like-School discussion moderator, and leader of the US News & World Report rankings advisory group.

Other Nominating Committee members include Eileen Breslin from the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio; Vicki Keough from Loyola University Chicago; and Julie Sanford from James Madison University.