Colleen Conway-Welch honored, named Living Legend
Dean Emerita Colleen Conway-Welch speaks at her induction into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame.
Colleen Conway-Welch, Dean Emerita of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN), recently received two honors recognizing her international, national and regional impact on nursing and health care.
The American Academy of Nursing, one of nursing’s most distinguished and prestigious professional organizations, named Conway-Welch a Living Legend, the highest honor the organization bestows.
In making the announcement, the academy noted Conway-Welch’s “direct and profound contributions to the nursing profession, health education and public policy through her research, scholarship and visionary leadership.”
In October 2016, she was inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame in recognition of her significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industries in Tennessee. Established in 2015, the Hall of Fame honors the state’s greatest health and health care pioneers, leaders and innovators.
VUSN Dean Linda Norman, DSN, R.N., FAAN, the Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing, applauded Conway-Welch’s recognition. “Colleen’s work, vision and drive shaped the future of the Vanderbilt School of Nursing. She transformed it into one of the largest advanced practice nursing programs in the country and among the most influential schools of nursing,” Norman said. “She is an inspiring leader, administrator and friend. I’m thrilled that she’s receiving this honor.”
Conway-Welch, Ph.D., R.N., CNM, FAAN, FACNM, the Nancy and Hilliard Travis Professor of Nursing, served as dean of VUSN for 29 years before retiring in 2013. As dean, she shepherded the school in an overhaul of school’s curriculum, starting with the introduction of an accelerated master’s program. Under her direction, VUSN instituted its Ph.D. and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs.
On the national and state stage, she served on President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on the HIV Epidemic, the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare and the Governor’s Tennessee Commission on the Future of TennCare. She was appointed by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to the Secretary’s Council on Public Health Preparedness.
In other policy roles, she was named to HHS’s Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee and served as a member of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. Conway-Welch was named by President George W. Bush, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as a member of the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the premier graduate education program for military health care providers. In 2007 she was appointed by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
