AACN Announces Election Results for New Board & Nominating Committee

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

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 19, 2015 – The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce the results of its 2015 election to fill seats on the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee. With votes cast by member deans and directors from the nation’s schools of nursing 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, Greer Glazer from the University of Cincinnati, Teri Murray from Saint Louis University, Kristen Swanson from Seattle University, and David Vlahov from the University of California, San Francisco. New members of AACN’s Nominating Committee include Jean Giddens from Virginia Commonwealth University and Sarah Thompson from the University of Colorado. 

“On behalf of AACN’s member deans, faculty, and students, I am pleased to welcome these new and returning members to the Board and Nominating Committee who are committed to advancing the organization’s mission and strategic priorities,” said AACN President Eileen T. Breslin, PhD, RN, FAAN. “As the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, AACN is at the forefront of transforming how nurses are educated and how patient care is delivered. This critical work can only be achieved through strong leadership and a collaborative approach to improving health and health care.”

Those elected to the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee will begin their terms of service following the business meeting at AACN’s Spring Annual Meeting on Monday, March 23, 2015. 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), was newly 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 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.
  
• Greer Glazer, PhD, RN, CNP, FAAN, Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Cincinnati, was re-elected to a second two-year term on the AACN Board. Dr. Glazer’s distinguished career includes serving as Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Trustee of the Health Collaborative for the Greater Cincinnati area, leader in the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing, and as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Executive Fellow. She recently served as principal investigator for a groundbreaking national study on Holistic Admissions in the Health Professions, which was commissioned by Urban Universities for Health. Dr. Glazer’s dedicated service to AACN includes Chair of the Executive Development Series Program Committee, member of the Government Affairs Committee, mentor with the New Dean Mentoring Program, and Board liaison to the current Futures Task Force.
  
• Teri Murray, PhD, APHN-BC, RN, FAAN, Dean of the School of Nursing at Saint Louis University, was 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 Board of Mercy Regional East Hospital Ministries and as 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 was the Chair of the Government Affairs Committee, member of the New Careers in Nursing National Advisory Committee, mentor in the New Dean Mentoring Program, current member of the Futures Task Force, and Chair of the Doctoral Advancement in Nursing program. 
  
• Kristen Swanson, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of the College of Nursing at Seattle University, was elected to her first term as an AACN Board Member At-Large. Prior to assuming her current position in 2014, Dr. Swanson served as Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor at the School of Nursing at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and held a variety of academic roles at the University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, and Trenton State College.  A noted scholar, she is well-known for her research on pregnancy loss and the Swanson Theory of Caring, which is used internationally as a guide for research, education and practice. Dr. Swanson, as an active AACN member, has been Chair of the Nominating Committee, member of the Doctoral Conference Program Committee, mentor in the New Dean Mentoring Program, and a North Carolina State Grassroots Liaison.        
  
  
• David Vlahov, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing, was re-elected to serve a second two-year term on the AACN Board. Prior to coming to UCSF in 2011, Dr. Vlahov held appointments in Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health, including Senior Vice President for Research at the New York Academy of Medicine; Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In addition to currently participating on HRSA’s National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice, he has served as an NIH reviewer, member of the New York City Board of Health, and Board Member with the International Society of Urban Health. At AACN, Dr. Vlahov was a member of the AACN-DVA Liaison Committee and the Doctoral Conference Program Committee.

Continuing members of the AACN Board of Directors include President Eileen Breslin from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, President-Elect Juliann Sebastian from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Secretary Judy Beal from Simmons College, Ann Cary from the University of Missouri Kansas City, Harriet Feldman from Pace University, and Anita Hufft from Texas Woman’s University.

The newly elected members to AACN’s Nominating Committee include:

• Jean Giddens, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), was elected by the AACN membership to the Nominating Committee for a two-year term. Prior to her current appointment at VCU in 2013, Dr. Giddens held a number of academic leadership positions at the University of New Mexico School of Nursing, including Executive Dean from 2010-2013, as well as teaching roles at the Mesa State College, University of Texas-El Paso, and Eastern New Mexico University. In addition to currently serving as Secretary for the Virginia Association of Schools of Nursing, she is on the editorial board of the Journal of Professional Nursing (JPN) and was recently a member of the Leadership Advisory Board for the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium. In addition to her work with JPN, Dr. Giddens’ contributions to AACN include service on the Program Planning Committees for the Master’s Conference, Executive Development Series, and Faculty Development Conference.
• Sarah Thompson, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean of the University of Colorado College of Nursing, was elected to a two-year term on AACN’s Nominating Committee. Prior to her current position, she was the Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the College of Nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and also held a faculty position at the School of Nursing at the University of Kansas. Her work to advance the profession has included serving on the VA Health System Research Review Committee, the Nebraska Action Coalition, and the Governing Council for the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s Health Professionals Education Collaborative. In addition to chairing the Task Force on the Implementation of the DNP, Dr. Thomson has supported AACN’s mission through service on the Faculty Development Conference Program Committee and the Gold Foundation/AACN Advisory Group.

Other Nominating Committee members include Philip Greiner from San Diego State University, Jane Kirschling from the University of Maryland, and Terri Weaver from the University of Chicago at Illinois.