
Celebrating extraordinary leadership and far-reaching impact on society
The M. Louise Fitzpatrick Award for Transformative Leadership is named in memory of M. Louise Fitzpatrick, EdD, RN, FAAN, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of Nursing, who led Villanova University’s College of Nursing from 1978 until her death in 2017. During those nearly 40 years, she developed the College into a premier nursing program, recognized repeatedly by the National League for Nursing as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education. She is remembered as one of the most vibrant, transformative leaders in the history of Villanova University.
The M. Louise Fitzpatrick Award for Transformative Leadership should be conferred upon a person who demonstrates:
- transformative leadership that has brought about change in nursing, health and/or health care
- a visionary perspective
- a commitment to excellence
- a concern for human dignity, ethics, service, diversity, underserved and vulnerable populations, and social justice, nationally and globally, that reflects the values and mission of Villanova University and the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing
2022 AWARD
CEREMONY & LECTURE
Thursday, November 10, 2022 | 5:30 pm ET
The Villanova Room, Connelly Center | Villanova University
2022 Award Recipient
Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN
President and CEO, National League for Nursing
Health care leader.
Accomplished innovator.
Nursing champion.

Under Dr. Beverly Malone’s leadership, the National League for Nursing (NLN) has advanced the science of nursing education by promoting greater collaboration among stakeholders, increasing diversity in nursing and nursing education, and advancing excellence in care for patients. Dr. Malone’s distinguished career has mixed policy, education, administration, and clinical practice, including as federal deputy assistant secretary for health under President Bill 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, a federal panel established to advise the US Secretary of Health and Human Services. She is also on the Kaiser Family Foundation Board of Directors and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Board of Directors and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Board of Directors and has received more than 20 honorary degrees.
In 2022, Dr. Malone was honored by the American Nurses Association with the prestigious President's Award. Dr. Malone was also named one of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives by Modern Healthcare. She was featured as one of 25 Outstanding Women for Women’s History Month by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Additionally, Dr. Malone was honored as part of the 2022 STATUS List, the most definitive accounting of leaders and influencers in the life sciences, as well as one of 12 Influential Persons in Health, Science and Innovation by Morehouse School of Medicine. And, she was included on HealthTech's list of 30 Healthcare IT Influencers Worth a Follow in 2022.
In 2021, Modern Healthcare honored her with a Top 25 Women Leaders' Luminary Award, named her to the inaugural list of five Minority Healthcare Luminaries, and included her on their list of 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She was previously honored on their list of Top 25 Women in Healthcare. Additionally, the International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (ISPN) honored her with the Living Legends Award.
Similarly, in 2020 Dr. Malone was ranked No. 5 in Modern Healthcare’s Top 100 Most Influential People, received the University of Cincinnati’s Linda Bates Parker Legend Award, named an Honorary Member of the Philippine Nurses Association of America and presented with a special award of distinction by the NLN Board of Governors. Becker's Hospital Review named her as one of 70 African American Leaders in Healthcare to Know. Also, she was bestowed the Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award by the National Center for Healthcare Leadership and designated 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 healthcare for the nation and global community, was named one of the Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine and accepted the Nursing Outlook Excellence in Research Award in 2018.
Elected to two terms as president of the American Nurses Association (ANA) representing 180,000 nurses and served as the first US and African American general secretary of the United Kindgom (UK) Royal College of Nursing representing 400,000 nurses. A member of the 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 Assciation. Furthermore, she has the distinguished honor of her portrait being displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Previous Award Recipients
Dr. Mason is Senior Policy Service Professor at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, George Washington University School of Nursing; and Professor Emerita at Hunter College, where she held the Rudin Endowed Chair and founded the Center for Health, Media & Policy. She is the Programme Director for the International Council of Nurses’ Global Nursing Leadership Institute, a past President of the American Academy of Nursing, and former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing. She has produced and hosted radio programs on health and health policy since 1985, and currently hosts HealthCetera in the Catskills on WIOX Radio. She has served as the only health professional on the National Advisory Committee for Kaiser Health News since its inception in 2009. Dr. Mason is the lead editor of the book, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, now in its 8th edition, and blogs on policy for JAMA Health Forum. She is the principal investigator on a 2017 replication of the 1997 Woodhull Study on Nurses and the Media published in 2018 in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship and an additional analysis of journalists’ experiences with using nurses as sources in health news stories, published in the American Journal of Nursing. She is Chair of the National Advisory Board for the Rush Center Health and Social Care Integration and of the Steering Committee for the Catskills Addiction Coalition. She serves on the boards of directors for the Primary Care Development Corporation, Public Health Solutions, and Margaretville Hospital (part of the Westchester Medical Health Network). She was the only nurse serving on the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s committee and report on Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care. She is the recipient of numerous awards for policy, leadership, dissemination of science, writing, education, public health, media and advocacy; most recently the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Health Policy by the New York Academy of Medicine in 2019 and the Archon Award for Leadership from Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honorary Society.
Dr. Mason received a BSN from West Virginia University, MSN from St. Louis University, and PhD from New York University; and holds an honorary doctorate of science from West Virginia University and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Long Island University.
Dr. Patricia A. Grady was appointed Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) on April 3, 1995. She earned her undergraduate degree in nursing from Georgetown University, and pursued her graduate education at the University of Maryland, receiving a master’s degree from the School of Nursing and a doctorate in physiology from the School of Medicine.
Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology, Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; Trustee, Villanova University
Dr. Naylor is the architect of the Transitional Care Model (TCM), an advanced practice nurse-coordinated, team-based innovation targeting high risk older adults that is recognized as a top evidence-based approach with a positive impact on the health and well-being of chronically ill older adults across the U.S., while assuring wiser use of societal resources. It is also being leveraged globally.
2020 postponed due to COVID-19.
Accreditation
Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.