Juliann Sebastian, Ph.D., dean and professor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, has been elected to a two-year term (2014-2016) as president-elect of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Her election puts her in line to serve as president from 2016-2018.
The AACN represents more than 740 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide and is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. It works to establish and implement quality standards for nursing education, improve health care, and promote public support of nursing education, research and practice.
Dr. Sebastian previously served as secretary on the board from 2010-14 and as board member-at-large from 2008-10. She will begin her term as president elect following the AACN’s annual meeting on March 24.
“It’s a great honor for Dr. Sebastian and reflects her expertise as a leader in nursing education, as well as the respect she has of her peers,” said Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., chancellor of UNMC. This is a critical time for health care and her talent will undoubtedly contribute to the success of undergraduate and graduate nursing education for years to come.”
Dr. Sebastian said faculty, staff, and students at the UNMC College of Nursing participate in many AACN conferences and programs.
“I am delighted by this opportunity to continue to work toward growing and enhancing what we do in academic nursing to advance nursing knowledge, engage in cutting edge practice, and educate the nurses, advanced practice nurses, faculty and scientists of the future,” Dr. Sebastian said. “Like other colleges and schools of nursing, we benefit from the mission and goals of the organization, and the academic resources that are made available to us.”
Prior to being named nursing dean at UNMC in 2011, she served as dean of the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Nursing (2006-2011) and in several capacities at the University of Kentucky, including assistant dean for advanced practice nursing and co-director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program.
She was a fellow in the inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Program and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.
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