NLN Honors 2026 NLN Award Winners

NLN Honors 2026 NLN Award Winners

Honors Convocation Set for NLN Education Summit, September 23-25, in Washington, DC

Washington, DC — The NLN Awards, named for three luminaries in nursing education, will be presented at the 2026 NLN Education Summit in Washington, DC, as part of a special Honors Convocation ceremony. The annual NLN Awards honor individuals of stature and distinction within nursing education and in the wider field of health care. Honorees have made significant contributions to the National League for Nursing mission of promoting excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community.

NLN Chair Yolanda VanRiel, PhD, RN, MEDSURG-BC, OCN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, chair of the Department of Nursing, North Carolina Central University and patient placement coordinator at First Health of the Carolinas-Moore Regional Hospital, said, “With more nominations than ever to consider this year, our three NLN Award winners proved to be special standouts in an incredibly competitive field of candidates. Sincere congratulations to Drs. Mauro, Phan, and Dohrn for their well-deserved honors, which reflect extraordinary accomplishments and decades of leadership in the quest for transformative excellence in nursing education and public health.” 

“The National League for Nursing proudly recognizes these outstanding leaders who are steadfast in their personal and professional determination to transform nursing education. We honor their work to advance the essential goals of making outstanding health care accessible and equitable to patients and families living in diverse communities here in America and around the world,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

The NLN Mary Adelaide Nutting Award

Outstanding Teaching, Leadership and Commitment to Nursing Education

Ann Marie Mauro, PhD, RN, CNL, CNE, ANEF, FAHA, FNAP, FAAN

A certified nurse educator and clinical nurse leader, Ann Marie Mauro is an internationally recognized leader in advancing innovative educational strategies, curriculum development, collaborations in interprofessional education, diversity initiatives, and educational policy across academic, professional, and community settings.

Dr. Mauro has served as a member at-large on the National League for Nursing Board of Governors; president of the Eastern Nursing Research Society; president of the Board of Education for Grades K-8 in Washington Township, New Jersey; and a board member of the VNA Health Group for New Jersey, Ohio, and Florida. A fellow of the NLN Academy of Nursing Education; American Academy of Nursing; American Heart Association; National Academies of Practice; and the New York Academy of Medicine, Dr. Mauro’s work, which she has presented internationally, has been supported with more than $4.22 million in external funding. Additionally, Dr. Mauro has provided leadership for over $3.6 million in federal funds secured by others to advance successful education and research initiatives.

The NLN Isabel Hampton Robb Award

Outstanding Leadership in Clinical Practice, Evidence-Based Practice and Interprofessional Collaboration

Quyen Phan, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN

Quyen Phan, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, is an assistant clinical professor at Emory University’s nursing school. With a nursing background from both Canada and the United States, Dr. Phan’s areas of expertise include public health, primary care, academic-practice partnership, and nursing education.

Dr. Phan is the primary investigator/project director of three HRSA-funded grants totaling $10 million. These focus on expanding health care to underserved and rural populations and preparing nursing students through nurse-led mobile health programs and improving the nursing workforce in eight states in the Southeastern region of the U.S. through the training of clinical faculty and preceptors. Dr. Phan holds a Bachelor’s in nursing science from the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Master’s in public health nursing leadership from Emory University in Atlanta; and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia.

The NLN Lillian Wald Humanitarian Award

Jennifer Dohrn, DNP, CNM, FAAN

Professor Jennifer Dohrn, former assistant dean for global initiatives at Columbia University School of Nursing, has dedicated her life’s work in service to communities locally and globally. As director of midwifery services at the Maternity Center Association, she helped establish the first freestanding maternity center in an inner city in the Bronx, New York, serving women and families for over two decades. Since 2003, she has worked extensively across Sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen the role of nurses in primary health care. She served as founding Project Director of the U.S./PEPFAR-funded ICAP Global Nursing Capacity Building Program, which supported nursing workforce development in 10 African countries in response to the HIV epidemic at the community level.

Dr. Dohrn has partnered closely with the World Health Organization to advance nursing leadership and policy. Drawing on her experience in global public health and complex humanitarian crises, she has spent more than two decades teaching global health equity from a human rights perspective. Her book, Mothers, Midwives and Reimagining Birthing in the Bronx: Breathe: Now Push, examines the racialization of maternal health care in the U.S. and models for change.

For more information about the NLN Awards and the NLN Education Summit, visit NLN.org.