American Academy of Nursing Designates Five Visionaries as Living Legends

Academy’s Highest Honor to be Presented at the Health Policy Conference

July 18, 2024 (Washington, DC) — The American Academy of Nursing (Academy) will officially designate five extraordinary nurse leaders as Living Legends this fall. Drs. Suzanne Bakken, Rita Chow, Julie Fairman, Faye Gary, and Mathy Mezey will be honored at the Living Legends Ceremony held at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, taking place on October 31 – November 2, 2024. These incredible trailblazers exemplify the resolve and ingenuity of the profession and have made significant impacts on health systems and health policy. 

“Each year, the Academy has the privilege of selecting outstanding individuals who have made lasting change to improve health and well-being as Living Legends,” said Academy President Linda D. Scott, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FNAP, FAAN. “I am delighted to celebrate these legendary nurses who have transformed the profession’s impact through pioneering evidence with remarkable outcomes. The commitment and passion towards advancing health equity demonstrated throughout their careers is truly outstanding. From publications to presentations, they have demonstrated that sharing nursing knowledge can improve the health of individuals around the globe.”

Drs. Bakken, Chow, Fairman, Gary, and Mezey have generated policy change through innovative thinking, scientific pursuit, and adept leadership to ensure that meaningful health care change is influenced by nursing expertise. They will be honored as 2024 Living Legends, the highest designation given by the Academy.

Suzanne Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FIAHSI, Alumni Professor of Nursing and Biomedical Informatics of Columbia University, is a leading scholar and renowned expert in the field of biomedical informatics. Dr. Bakken has made innumerable contributions in the areas of terminology and standards, quality improvement, informatics approaches to reducing health disparities, and advanced visualization throughout her career spanning over four decades. She was instrumental in drafting influential National Academies’ reports through her work as a member of the Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety and Committee on Return of Individual-Specific Results Generated in Research Laboratories. Her research focuses on the role of informatics and data science to improve health and advance health equity. Dr. Bakken’s holistic view of data’s potential to revolutionize clinical practice has led her to consult nationally and internationally in the field of informatics, author over 300 publications, receive continuous funding for over 25 years, and receive numerous awards and honors. 

Rita K. Chow, EdD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, CAPT. (Ret) USPHS, Senior Volunteer Fellow at the National Council on Aging, is a remarkable leader who has demonstrated an enduring commitment to nursing and improving health care delivery throughout her storied career. A trailblazer, Dr. Chow codirected one of the first research projects utilizing closed-circuit television in the intensive care unit to record nurses’ real-time actions and responsibilities, increasing respect for the profession within the hospital setting. Dr. Chow’s dedication to health equity is demonstrated through the innovative programs she led to serve historically marginalized groups. Through her federal service and supervisory positions, Dr. Chow improved health outcomes within the Rosebud Lakota facility in South Dakota, implemented a music and movement program for patients with leprosy at the Hansen’s Disease Center in Carville, Louisiana, and worked to establish the first long-term care facility for aging male federal prisoners in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Chow’s lifelong dedication to improving access of quality care is truly extraordinary. 

Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing Emerita, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, is an internationally esteemed historian and nurse scholar who has been instrumental in leading and advancing the scholarship of nursing history as well as shaping its future. Her commitment to promoting health equity is evidenced through her research on nursing’s influence on human and civil rights issues, which elucidated the experiences of nurses of color and the impact of racism within nursing. Additionally, her seminal work explored the dynamics and effects of gender and professional hierarchy on the nursing discipline and was influential in the development of the Nurse Reinvestment Act of 2002. Dr. Fairman also directed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Future of Nursing Scholars program, which helped shift the paradigm of PhD nursing programs to include a focus on health equity while supporting the PhD nursing pipeline. Her numerous contributions to recording the profession’s history and bringing injustices to light demonstrates her passion for documenting nursing’s impact and her incredible leadership in the field.

Faye Gary, EdD, MS, RN, FAAN, Distinguished University Professor, Medical Mutual of Ohio Kent W. Clapp Chair and Professor of Nursing for Vulnerable and At-Risk Persons at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, is a champion of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Throughout her extraordinary career, Dr. Gary’s steadfast commitment to child and adolescent mental health, health disparities, and support for domestic violence victims has made her a leader in the field. In addition to her service as the executive consultant to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service’s Ethnic Minority Fellowship Program, the National Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities, Dr. Gary has made tremendous strides to improve the status of the profession and health internationally. Dr. Gary’s incredible impact is demonstrated through her many contributions in improving health policy, promoting social justice, and advancing health equity.

Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, Senior Research Scientist, and Associate Director (and Founding Director) of the Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing at the New York University (NYU) Rory Meyers College of Nursing, has been a transformational leader in the fields of nursing ethics and geriatric nursing, spurring important policy change to ensure quality care for aging individuals. Under her leadership, landmark programs and materials, including evidence-based geriatric nursing practice protocols, a summer research institute, and other training effort flourished and continues to be utilized today, such as the Nurse Competence in Aging, a national initiative to ensure specialty nurses are prepared in geriatrics. Dr. Mezey was also a Founding Director of Nurses Improving HealthSystems to the Elderly (NICHE™), an initiative involving over 700 hospitals nationwide. Her work to improve older adult care has had a lasting impact on the health of patients nationally.

The Academy’s Living Legends Ceremony will be held during the Health Policy Conference on the evening of November 1, 2024 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC. This event is a special tribute to these legends’ remarkable legacy where colleagues, family, friends, Fellows, and sponsors can gather in Washington, DC to celebrate the power of nursing’s impact. Learn more about the Academy and visit the policy conference website for more details.