NLN Presents President’s Award to Two Nationally Leading Nurse Educators

NLN Presents President’s Award to Two Nationally Leading Nurse Educators

Honorees Include Regulatory Expert Maryann Alexander & Duke University Vice Dean Ernest J. Grant

Washington, DC — The National League for Nursing will honor two prominent nurse educators as winners of the 2024 NLN President’s Award. This high honor reserved for outstanding leaders in nursing education whose lifetime career achievements deserve widespread public acclaim. Dr. Maryann Alexander and Dr. Ernest J. Grant have each made their marks on the national stage during their decades of leadership in nursing education.

Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief officer of nursing regulation for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and editor-in-chief of the publication, Journal of Nursing Regulation, and Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, vice dean for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at the Duke University School of Nursing and immediate past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), will be celebrated at the 2024 NLN Education Summit in San Antonio, Texas.

“Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 President’s Award. We are pleased to publicly honor Drs. Alexander and Grant in the company of admiring lifelong colleagues and generations of associates whose careers they’ve helped to shape,” said NLN Chair Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Strawbridge Professor at the Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions at Ursuline College in Ohio.

“These two individuals are remarkable role models for anyone aspiring to reach the pinnacle of nursing and nursing education. The NLN is proud to salute their fine records of accomplishment, which bring distinction to our profession and have positively impacted the quality of health care and raised the standard of nursing excellence here and abroad,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN

An expert in regulatory policy in nursing and health care, Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN is chief officer of nursing regulation for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nursing Regulation. Prior to her role at NCSBN, Dr. Alexander was the executive officer of the Illinois Board of Nursing. She was also an advanced practice registered nurse and an assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Dr. Alexander received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science degrees from Northwestern University. Her PhD is in nursing with an emphasis in health policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. A fellow in the highly respected American Academy of Nursing, she has authored many articles and book chapters; won several national research awards; and has given numerous presentations before national and international audiences.

Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN

Internationally recognized as a specialist in burn care and fire safety, Dr. Ernest J. Grant came to national attention for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center attack in 2001. That earned him the Nurse of the Year Award, presented in 2002 by President George W. Bush. Today the vice dean for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at the Duke University School of Nursing, Dr. Grant is also the immediate past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nation’s largest nurse’s organization representing the interests of the nation’s 5.3 million registered nurses. He is the first man to have been elected to the office of ANA president in the association’s 127 years of existence.

As a nurse educator with more than 30 years of experience in nursing, Dr. Grant also currently serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings. In 2011, he was inducted as a fellow into the prestigious American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

For more information, visit NLN.org.

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