Page 10 - The Bell Tower - Summer/Fall 2015

Honorary Degree
Noted educator of nurses, nation- al health leader, and recipient of the Florence Nightingale Award, Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, was the keynote speaker at the UMFK’s 133rd Commencement and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letter degree during the ceremony.
Dr. Hassmiller, who joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 1997, is presently the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation senior adviser for nursing.
In this role, she shapes and leads the Foundation’s nursing strategies in an effort to create a higher quality of care in the United States for people, families, and communities.
In partnership with AARP, Hassmiller directs the Foundation’s “Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action”, which seeks to ensure that everyone in America can live a healthier life, supported by a system
in which nurses are essential partners in providing care and promoting health. This 50-state and District of Columbia effort strives to implement the recommenda- tions of the Institute of Medicine’s report on the “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.” Hassmiller served as the report’s study director. Additionally, she serves as co-director of the Future of Nursing Scholars program, an initiative
that provides scholarships, mentoring and leadership development activities, and postdoctoral research funding to build the leadership capacity of nurse educators and researchers.
She has involved herself with the Red Cross in many capacities, was a member
of the National Board of Governors for the American Red Cross, serving as chair of the Disaster and Chapter Services Committee and national chair of the 9/11 Recovery Program. Hassmiller has contributed to Red Cross disaster relief efforts in the United States and abroad, as during Hurricane Andrew, September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and the tsunami in Indonesia.
Hassmiller was honored in 2009 as a recipient of the Florence Nightingale
Medal, which is awarded by the International Committee of the Red Cross, well-known as the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve. During that year, only three individuals received this award in the United States.
Susan Hassmiller earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Florida State University. She went on to receive two master’s degrees, one in health educa- tion from Florida State University, and the other in community health nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She earned a Ph.D. in nursing administra- tion and health policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Hassmiller is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a member of the Joint Commission’s National Nurse Advisory Council, Meridian Health System Board
of Directors, the Health Resources and Services Administration National Advisory Committee for Nurse Education and Practice, and the CMS National Nurse Steering Committee.
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