Dr. Carol Weingarten inducted as fellow in Academy of Nursing Education

A role model for colleagues, she was honored for her sustained and significant contributions to the field of nursing education

Villanova, PA, September 26, 2009 — Excellence as an educator was recognized tonight as Carol Toussie Weingarten, PhD, RN, ANEF was inducted as a fellow in the National League for Nursing’s (NLN) Academy of Nursing Education. The ceremony was held at the close of the NLN’s Education Summit 2009 in Philadelphia. Dr. Weingarten is an associate professor at the Villanova University College of Nursing.

Dr. Weingarten is among the third class of 21 fellows representing 20 schools of nursing in the United States. The academy was established in 2007 and had 65 fellows to date. Dr. Weingarten now joins this select group after a competitive process that reviews an applicant’s innovative teaching strategies, academic leadership and collaborative partnerships, among other criteria. The NLN established the Academy of Nursing Education to foster excellence in nursing education by recognizing and capitalizing on the wisdom of outstanding nurse educators.

"What I've learned from my work on the local through international levels is that everything connects and that people can become involved at any point in their careers,” explains Dr. Weingarten about her continued motivation as an educator. “We get inspired in school, at work or in some sort of service projects together. Over the years our friendships expand with continued involvement, and then one day there we are together as experienced nurse educators working to inspire other students and colleagues."

A specialist in maternal-child nursing, health promotion, and professional development in nursing, Dr. Weingarten is an author or co-author of four textbooks and over 60 articles and has delivered hundreds of presentations. She has been a full-time faculty member at Villanova since 1985 and the advisor for the Villanova Chapter of the Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) for 23 years, having grown the chapter into one of the largest and most active in the United States. She has recently completed her term as the NLN's consultant to the National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA). Her leadership roles have included being president of the Alpha Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Nursing Honor Society, Chair of the Cabinet on Nursing Practice and Professional Development of the Pennsylvania State Nurses' Association, and membership on various professional advisory boards.

Dr. Weingarten is also noted for her 11 year and highly successful partnership in service learning with a public school serving one of the financially poorest areas in Philadelphia; at the school the nursing students teach health promotion to countless students, assist with health screenings and become role models for the children. She has been a recipient of advisement awards from Villanova University and the state SNAP, and was the first person to receive the NSNA's national "Leader of Leaders" award. From July 18 to August 2, 2009, Dr. Weingarten and her husband, Villanova alumnus Michael S. Weingarten, MD, ’96 MBA, FACS served as volunteers caring for ill and injured troops airlifted from Iraq and Afghanistan to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.