Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN President & CEO, National League for Nursing
Under Dr. Beverly Malone’s leadership, the National League for Nursing (NLN) has advanced the science of nursing education, increased diversity in nursing scholarship, and championed evidence-based practice. Dr. Malone’s distinguished career has blended education, administration, and clinical practice, including as Federal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health under President Clinton.
As a reviewer, she contributed to the groundbreaking IOM report, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health," and served on the Minority Health Federal Advisory Committee. Dr. Malone has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates. Presently, Dr. Malone serves as Vice Chair at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Board of Directors, co-leads the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Health Professional Education and Communication Working Group, and serves on NAM’s Steering Committee. She is also a member of ecoAmerica’s Leadership Circle Executive Committee.
The named Dr. Malone as their 2024 Hall of Fame Award recipient. The selected Dr. Malone as their 2024 Mary Elizabeth Carnegie Leadership in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) Awardee. The recognized Dr. Malone as a 2024 inaugural Fellow in the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (FADLN). The year prior, Modern Healthcare honored Dr. Malone as one of the nation’s leading health care executives, naming her to their 2023 list of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives in Healthcare. The presented Dr. Malone with the prestigious 2023 HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein Award for her commitment to advancing the nursing profession and excellence in nursing professional practice across international borders. In 2023, Dr. Malone was listed in Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Health Care for the fourth consecutive year. That same year, she was honored by the American Nurses Association with the prestigious President's Award and was selected for the M. Louise Fitzpatrick Award for Transformative Leadership by . Dr. Malone was also featured as one of 25 Outstanding Women during Women’s History Month by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.
Modern Healthcare also has honored her with a Top 25 Women Leaders' Luminary Award in 2021 and named her to the inaugural list of five Minority Healthcare Luminaries. She was previously honored on their list of Top 25 Women in Healthcare. The International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (ISPN) honored her with the Living Legend Award.
In 2020, Dr. Malone received the America and Cincinnati’s Linda Bates Parker Legend Award, named an Honorary Member of the Philippine Nurses Association of America, bestowed the Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award by the National Center for Healthcare Leadership, and conferred by the American Academy of Nursing with their Highest Nursing Honor, “Living Legend.”
The Alpha Omega Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the College of Nursing of Adelphi University, Long Island, honored Dr. Malone with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. She was presented with a citation from the American Psychological Association for her outstanding leadership in advancing excellence in health care for the nation and global community, was named one of the Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare and accepted the Nursing Outlook Excellence in Research Award (2018).
Dr. Malone was elected to two terms as president of the American Nurses Association (ANA) representing 180,000 nurses and served as the first African American general secretary of the United Kingdom (UK) Royal College of Nursing (RCN) representing 400,000 nurses. A member of the UK as well as US delegation to the World Health Assembly, she was also vice chair of the Brussels-based European Federation of Nurses Association. Furthermore, she has the distinguished honor of her being displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Monica Rose McLemore, FADLN MPH PhD RN Visit Professor, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Dr. Monica R. McLemore is currently a visiting professor at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her program of research is focused on understanding reproductive health and justice. To date, she has 143 peer reviewed articles, OpEds and commentaries and her research has been cited in the Huffington Post, Lavender Health, six amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States, and four National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine reports, and a data visualization project entitled "How To Fix Maternal Mortality: The first step is to stop blaming women" that was published in the 2019 Future of Medicine edition of Scientific American. She was named a 2025 Kavli Fellow of the National Academies of Sciences for her work in Reproductive Justice. She is the recipient of numerous awards and was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2019. She became the Editor in Chief of Health Equity Journal in 2022.
Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of the Center for Community Health Enhancement and Learning (HEAL) Distinguished Professor of Practice, Purdue University
Dr. Jerome Adams was appointed as a Presidential Fellow and the first Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives on October 1, 2021 and is now the Purdue University Center for Community Health Enhancement and Learning (HEAL). He is also a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health.
As the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and a prior member of the President’s Coronavirus task force, Dr. Adams has been at the forefront of America’s most pressing health challenges. A regular communicator via tv, radio, and print, Dr. Adams is an expert not just in the science, but also in communicating the science to the lay public and making it relevant to various audiences.
Dr. Adams is a licensed anesthesiologist with a master’s degree in public health and ran the Indiana State Department of Health prior to becoming Surgeon General. In the State Health Commissioner role, he managed a $350 million dollar budget and over 1000 employees and led Indiana’s response to Ebola, Zika, and HIV crises. Notably, Dr. Adams helped convince the Governor and State Legislature to legalize syringe service programs in the state, and to prioritize $13 million in funding to combat infant mortality. As Surgeon General, Dr. Adams was the operational head of the 6000 person Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and oversaw responses to 3 back-to-back category 5 hurricanes, and to a once in a century pandemic.
In addition to his recent COVID19 work, Dr. Adams has as they navigate the opioid epidemic, maternal health, rising rates of chronic disease, the impacts of rising suicide rates in our Nation, and how businesses can become better stewards and stakeholders in promoting community health.
Lisa M. Meeks, PhD, MA (she, her, hers) Clinical Professor Department of Medical Education University of Illinois College of Medicine
Sean P. Convoy, DNP, PMHNP-BC Associate Professor Director, Psychiatric – Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program Duke University School of Nursing
Dallas M. Ducar, MSN, RN, NP, CNL, FAAN EVP of Donor Engagement and External Relations Fenway Health
Griselle Batista, PhD, RN, CTN-A Assistant Professor Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences Texas Christian University (TCU)
Phone: 202-463-6930 | Email: conferences@aacnnursing.org | Website: www.aacnnursing.org/conferences