American Academy of Nursing Designates Six Trailblazers as Living Legends

Academy’s Highest Honor Awarded to Global Leaders in Informatics, Ethics, Mental, Maternal, Oral, and Women's Health

Washington, DC (July 8, 2025) — The American Academy of Nursing (Academy) will officially designate six extraordinary nurse leaders as Living Legends this fall. Drs. Dyanne D. Affonso, Connie W. Delaney, Judith E. Haber, Christine A. Miaskowski, Brother Ignatius T. Perkins, OP, and Phyllis Sharps will be honored at the Living Legends Ceremony held at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, taking place on October 16 – October 18, 2025. These incredible trailblazers exemplify the resolve and ingenuity of the profession and have made significant impacts on health systems and health policy.

“It is an honor to recognize and celebrate the astonishing achievements of this year’s Living Legends,” said Academy President Linda D. Scott, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FNAP, FAAN. “Their commitment to advancing health and the nursing profession is evident through the decades they have dedicated in their pursuits to create healthier lives for all people. Together, these Living Legends have and continue to transform care, create policy impact, disseminate vital research, uplift leaders within the profession, and improve the health of countless individuals in their communities.”

They have generated policy change through innovative thinking, scientific pursuit, and adept leadership to ensure meaningful health care change is influenced by nursing expertise. They will be honored as 2025 Living Legends, the highest designation given by the Academy. The Academy's Board of Directors appreciates the dedication of the Living Legends Task Force, led by Chair Kenneth R. White, PhD, APRN-BC, FACHE, FAAN, the Academy's Immediate Past-President, for their work to review the increasing number of exceptional nominations for this prestigious peer-driven recognition.

Dyanne D. Affonso, PhD, RN, FAAN, Honorary President, Centre of Excellence, OPI (Ordine delle Professioni Infermieristiche di ROMA) and Professor Emerita & Former Dean, University of Toronto, is an unwavering force committed to advancing nursing science, social justice, and health care leadership around the globe. Dr. Affonso's pioneering work in maternal health, mental health, and health equity has shaped policy and education worldwide. Her groundbreaking research on postpartum depression (PPD) led to PPD’s inclusion as a women’s health priority by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Affonso’s global impact is evident through her Malama Community Health Program, which addresses disparities in maternal and child health care among Native Hawaiians and multi-ethnic women in Hawaii, which was also implemented in other culturally diverse communities, including British Columbia, Canada among First Nations peoples. Dr. Affonso’s global influence is vividly seen through her pivotal role in the co-founding and collaboratively leading Centers of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship in Italy, Ireland, and Albania where she has fostered leadership, research, and clinical innovations. Dr. Affonso’s impact is a testament to nursing’s power to advance health and humanity.

Connie W. Delaney, PhD, RN, FACMI, FNAP, FAAN, Professor & Dean, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, is an internationally renowned change agent in nursing informatics, education, and health care innovation. With a career spanning more than five decades, she has been a vanguard in shaping the integration of informatics into nursing education, research, and practice. Through innovative initiatives and global leadership, Dr. Delaney has shaped health IT policy, mentored generations of nurse informaticists, and advanced health equity through preeminent programs of nursing science. She was among the first to extract code and nursing data from electronic health records, leading to the development and implementation of the Nursing Minimum Data Set and Nursing Management Minimum Data Set, which gained international recognition and are still used today. Dr. Delaney also led the creation of the nation’s first informatics-focused Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Minnesota, which is now ranked among the top programs nationwide. She co-founded the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, now representing over 25,000 nurse informaticists across 29 organizations. Dr. Delaney’s enduring contributions have fundamentally shaped the profession in an increasingly digital world.

Judith E. Haber, PhD, APRN, FAAN, Professor Emerita & Executive Director, Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice (OHNEP) Program, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, is a psychiatric nursing pioneer and a global thought leader in evidence-based practice and oral-systemic health. A trailblazer in psychiatric-mental health nursing policy and standards, Dr. Haber co-chaired the American Nurses Association task force that established the first Scope and Standards for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners. She also played an instrumental role in the landmark 1998 Medicare policy change that authorized reimbursement for advanced practice nurses, which expanded access to mental health services. A groundbreaking champion of evidence-based practice, she co-authored the textbook Nursing Research: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice, now in its 11th edition and translated into six languages, which is a global nursing education standard. Dr. Haber’s more recent leadership includes the founding of the OHNEP program, which integrates oral health into nursing and interprofessional education and was recognized as an Academy Edge Runner model in 2019. Dr. Haber’s transformative research, policy advocacy, and nursing education leadership have made significant contributions to improve care and redefined health integration across disciplines.

Christine A. Miaskowski, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emeritus, Physiological Nursing, University of California San Francisco School of Nursing, is an internationally renowned expert whose groundbreaking work in pain management and symptom science has profoundly shaped the field of oncology nursing and advanced the scientific understanding of patient experiences in chronic illness. Her early work in opioid pharmacology established foundational evidence for the field of sex-based differences in pain research. Dr. Miaskowski was among the first to define and explore symptom clusters in oncology, highlighting how multiple symptoms co-occur and interact, transforming the quality of life for countless patients. With over 50 years of experience in the nursing profession and more than three decades of continuous NIH funding totaling over $75 million, Dr. Miaskowski’s legacy is one of innovative research, extraordinary mentorship, and unwavering advocacy for improving the lives of patients worldwide.

Brother Ignatius Perkins, OP, PhD, RN, ANEF, FRSM, FNYAM, FNCBC, FAAN, Director of the St. Martin De Porres Center for Health and Human Dignity, Providence College, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, is a visionary nurse leader and ethicist whose six-decade career spans global health care, education, faith, and advocacy. His Trilogy of Health Care model, anchored in human dignity, human freedom, and human flourishing, provides an ethical framework that has influenced generations of clinicians, health care institutions, and academic leaders. He conducted a landmark study on personhood among homeless individuals with AIDS, which was the first to apply the Pellegrino Healing Relationship Model in practice. Additionally, Brother Perkins has been an influential leader for multiple academic institutions, and he was a driving force behind the National League for Nursing’s Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation, which now accredits over 200 nursing schools globally. Brother Perkins’ enduring commitment to dignity, equity, and human flourishing has shaped nursing ethics, policy, and leadership.

Phyllis Sharps, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, is a prominent nurse scientist, educator, and policy advocate whose revolutionary work has shaped maternal and infant health. With a career spanning over four decades, Dr. Sharps’ focus has been to support the health of women of color impacted by intimate partner violence (IPV). She is best known for the development of DOVE (Domestic Violence Enhanced Home Visitation), an NIH-funded, nurse-led, community-based program that addresses IPV during pregnancy through home visits and empowers women to make informed safety decisions in collaboration with prenatal providers and domestic violence advocates. In addition to her IPV research and interventions, Dr. Sharps has also mentored hundreds of students and faculty underrepresented in nursing through various initiatives. Her visionary leadership has not only improved outcomes for women and children but has also reshaped the landscape of maternal health equity and nursing education for generations to come.

The Academy’s Living Legends Ceremony will be held during the Health Policy Conference on the evening of October 17, 2025, 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.

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About the American Academy of Nursing
The American Academy of Nursing serves the public by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Academy Fellows are inducted into the organization for their extraordinary contributions to improve health locally and globally. With more than 3,200 Fellows, the Academy represents nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia.