Debra J. Barksdale Assumes Presidency of the American Academy of Nursing
Monday, October 20, 2025
Posted by: Caroline Kane
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Debra J. Barksdale Assumes Presidency of the American Academy of Nursing
Transformational Leader will Advance Evidence-Based Policy and its Impact Across Health Care |
Washington, DC (October 20, 2025) — Debra
J. Barksdale, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, ANEF, FADLN, FAAN, transitioned into
her term as President of the American Academy of Nursing (Academy) at
the organization’s annual business meeting held on October 18, 2025. Dr.
Barksdale is currently the Dean of the University of North Carolina
Greensboro’s School of Nursing. Serving in many policy, administrative,
and academic roles, Dr. Barksdale is a seasoned leader and health equity
champion. Over the course of her career, Dr. Barksdale has skillfully
represented the profession and patients on federal boards, executive
fellowships, and global leadership roles. Having extensive experience in
advancing strategy, culture building, and a rich research portfolio
examining social determinants of health on stress, emotional and
physical responses, Dr. Barksdale will bring her strengths to the
Academy as the organization ushers in a new policy structure for
enhanced impact.
Dr. Bark sdale’s
transformational leadership includes representing the nursing
profession’s perspective on the Patient-Centered Outcome Research
Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors and expanding opportunities
available to both nursing students and faculty at institutions across
the country to support the preparation and training of the next
generation of nurses. Dr. Barksdale has dedicated her career to service,
through her presidency at the National Organization of Nurse
Practitioner Faculties, her fellowship at the American Academy of Nurse
Practitioners, and her engagement in the National League for Nursing’s
Education Research Think Tank as well as the Strategic Action Group for
the Vision Statement on Academic Progression. In 2014, Dr. Barksdale
served on the Veteran Choice Act Blue Ribbon Panel and in 2011 she was
selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse, a
program in which she elevated nursing representation in decisions to
improve the US healthcare system.
During
her presidency, Dr. Barksdale will lead the Academy’s work to implement
the 2025 – 2028 Strategic Plan to generate, synthesize, and disseminate
nursing knowledge that advances health and furthers progress towards
the organization’s vision of Healthy Lives for All People.
“It
is a privilege to lead this organization at such an unprecedented
moment in history. As our profession continues to navigate rapidly
changing policy and health care environments, this moment demands forward
thinking and diversity of thought. We will need to leverage the
collective expertise of all Fellows in order to advance
evidence-informed solutions that ensure everyone has access to critical
resources and high-quality health care,” said Dr. Barksdale. “I am
committed to elevating the influence of the nursing profession and the
power of nurses. I look forward to drawing on my history with the
Academy to strengthen our partnerships and amplify the importance of
nursing science, leadership, and innovation so we can ensure a
sustainable future for the organization and the public’s health.”
Dr.
Barksdale’s involvement in the Academy has grounded her robust
understanding of the organization’s Fellows, operations, governance, and
policy work. A Fellow of the Academy for over a decade, Dr. Barksdale
was an inaugural member of the Expert Panel on Primary Care, a role in
which she advanced evidence-based primary care policy. After lending her
skills to the Academy’s policy work, Dr. Barksdale helped steward the
organization through her two terms as a member of the Board of Directors
from 2017 to 2021. During this time, she served as the Board Liaison to
the then-Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, facilitating
the committee’s cornerstone projects including the revised Equity,
Diversity, and Inclusivity Statement, the Academy’s Principles of
Engagement, and developing inclusive programming such as the Recognizing
and Reacting to Microaggressions Dialogue and the Critical Conversation
on Health Equity and Racism. Perhaps most notably, the Committee’s work
informed key revisions to the Fellow selection process that increased
the rigor and equity of the organization’s application and selection
processes.
Further,
in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Barksdale chaired the Policy
Conference Planning Advisory Committee, and led the programming and
development of the Academy’s first ever and highly successful hybrid
Health Policy Conference, which blended an in-person and online
experience for attendees. She also served as a review committee member
for applications to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Distinguished
Nurse Scholar-in-Residence, strengthening the Academy’s partnership
with NAM and elevating the role of nurses in federal policy.
Dr.
Barksdale’s leadership will shape the organization’s engagement on some
of the most pressing policy areas as identified by our Fellows such as
the role of artificial intelligence in health care, protecting our
research and science infrastructure, and supporting access and funding
to Medicaid. Moreover, she will spearhead the organization’s projects to
increase Fellow engagement with the Academy’s policy work and raise its
impact in the realms of federal policy, the profession, health care,
and global health care diplomacy.
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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.
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