Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor and dean at the University of Virginia School of Nursing, has been elected to serve a 2-year term as president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Lancaster assumed the presidency at AACN's Spring Annual Meeting held in Washington, DC in March.

 "As AACN's president, I will work to build consensus on future directions for nursing education, pursue legislative support for nursing workforce development, raise public awareness about the importance of nurses in healthcare delivery, and advance the goals of professional nursing education and research," Lancaster said.

Lancaster has served on the AACN Board in many capacities over the last 12 years in the roles of President-Elect, task force chair, committee chair and a reviewer for the Journal of Professional Nursing. She has served AACN as the Chair of the Task Force on Leadership Transition and member of the Program, Bylaws, and Nominating Committees. 

Lancaster's distinguished career as a nurse educator in baccalaureate and higher degree programs includes the appointment as dean at the University of Virginia since 1989; dean at Wright State University in Ohio from 1984-1989; and faculty roles at both the University of Alabama in Birmingham and Texas Christian University.

Lancaster, who holds the first endowed nursing professorship in the United States, was herself honored in 1999 with the first endowed professorship named for a female dean at the University of Virginia - the Jeanette Lancaster Alumni Professorship in Nursing.

She has been honored as a distinguished alumna at the University of Tennessee College of Nursing and the Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and was named honorary alumna at the UVA School of Nursing. 

In 2004, the New York University Division of Nursing presented her with the Maes-Macinnes Award in recognition of her contributions to and impact on the nursing profession. In 2005, the Beta Kappa Chapter of Sigma ThetaTau International Honor Society of Nursing awarded her the Distinguished Nurse Award.

In collaboration with various colleagues, Lancaster has had published more than 50 articles in a variety of professional journals and given more than 200 speeches and workshops throughout the U.S. and in several foreign countries. She edits the interdisciplinary journal Family and Community Health and has edited or co-edited eight textbooks.

Lancaster received her PhD in Public Health from the University of Oklahoma; her MS in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing from Case Western Reserve University; and her BSN from the University of Tennessee at Memphis. 

Other members elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the AACN Board of Directors include:

C. Fay Raines, PhD, RN, nursing dean at The University of Alabama in Hunstville, who was elected to serve as President-Elect; and Lea Acord, PhD, RN, from Marquette University (Milwaukee) who was elected to serve as Secretary.

Also joining the Board as Members-At-Large are Martha Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore); Linda Niedringhaus, PhD, RN, Elmhurst College (IL); and Melanie Dreher, PhD, RN, FAAN from the University of Iowa.