Normally, when I report on the NLN Education Summit in this column, I start at the beginning, with the keynote address and opening session. This year, however, I feel compelled to start at the end, at the President's Reception and Awards Banquet. I am overwhelmed and humbled by everything that occurred that evening.

First, there were the awards. I was so pleased that Dr. Diane Billings was honored with the NLN Award for Outstanding Leadership in Nursing Education. Although she is retiring from her position as professor and associate dean for teaching, learning, and information resources at the University of Indiana School of Nursing, Dr. Billings will continue to have an important influence on nursing education. She will lead the NLN's new Ambassador Program, which is designed to inform faculty and educational leaders in all schools about NLN initiatives and help us respond quickly to any issues or concerns. Dr. Billings is known as a master teacher, mentor, and scholar, and truly deserves our recognition and gratitude.

I was then presented with the Award for Outstanding Leadership to the NLN. As you know, I will be retiring this winter, and I remember well the struggles we faced over the years as we worked to rebuild this beloved association. Thus, the touching words of so many of our members, colleagues, and friends during the course of the Summit filled me with joy. But that Saturday evening was so special. Members of my family were present along with most of the NLN staff. As these important parts of my life came together, I felt enormous pride and I was deeply moved.

And then there were the presidents — Dr. Toni Bargagliotti, our current president; her immediate predecessor Dr. Joyce Murray; Dr. Eileen Zungolo, who emceed the awards presentations; and Dr. Nancy Langston, who also served as first chair of the NLN Foundation for Nursing Education. These extraordinary women, who share equity in all that this award symbolizes, came to the stage along with Kathy Mershon, current chair of the foundation, to announce that an endowment has been established in my name to fund grants for nursing education research. I was overwhelmed. There is no cause more important to the NLN mission, and I am so proud to be recognized in this way.

All in all, 1600 individuals attended this NLN Education Summit — and 500 attended for the very first time. I can hardly believe how this annual event has grown over the years. It is quite apparent to me that with our Summits, the NLN fulfills the need for nurse educators to engage in dialogue with their peers — an illustration of the valuable practice of horizontal mentoring that attorney Lynn Shapiro Snyder spoke of in her keynote address.

Many of the opportunities for interaction took place in the exhibit hall over meals, in the corridors between sessions, and in lively hands-on workshops. But I would be remiss if I did not tell you about the fascinating plenary session that took place on the first full day of the Summit, our Annual Faculty Meeting, and some of the happenings at our business meeting on Saturday.

For the plenary session, four members of the NLN Board of Governors — president-elect Dr. Elaine Tagliareni, treasurer Dr. Cathleen Shultz, Dr. Pamela Ironside, and Bro. Ignatius Perkins — used the NLN's new Excellence in Nursing Education Model as a framework to wrestle with typical challenges confronted by faculty. Board member Patricia Castaldi, playing a harried instructor, asked the panel to address what to do when students come to class unprepared. As the panelists discussed this and other issues, their thoughtful questions led to new ways of thinking about transformation in the nursing classroom.

At the Annual Faculty Meeting, we learned from Dr. Patricia Benner about preliminary findings from the National Nursing Education Study, funded as part of the larger Carnegie Foundation Preparation for the Professions Program. Dr. Benner, principal investigator for the study, described what she sees as failures of nursing education in classroom teaching as well as best practices in education, when students and faculty seriously engage in learning to do good nursing practice. As always at our National Faculty Meetings, members of the audience asked questions and shared their views.

Saturday's Annual Business Meeting was a busy one. We installed new members of the NLN Board of Governors and thanked those who have retired from the board for their service. And we applauded the third cohort of NLN Centers of Excellence. The University of Oklahoma was recognized for its accomplishments in Creating Environments that Promote Student Learning and Professional Development. The Indiana University School of Nursing was recognized for Creating Environments that Advance the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty. And Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing in Quincy, Illinois, was recognized for Creating an Environment that Advances the Science of Nursing Education.

At that meeting, I spoke personally about my tenure as CEO of the NLN, my pride in our many accomplishments, and my feelings as I approach my retirement. My speech will be reproduced in the November/December issue of Nursing Education Perspectives, along with photos and a longer recap of the four days of the Summit than I have room for here, but I do want to conclude this message with some of the words I spoke that day: "I am proud of all we have accomplished during my tenure. Today, the NLN is a trusted, relevant, and vital organization. It is hard for me to imagine the time when I will not be a part of this wonderful organization on a daily basis."

What a wonderful Summit! What extraordinary opportunities we have with the NLN!

Warm regards,

Ruth D. Corcoran, EdD, RN
Chief Executive Officer