NYU Meyers celebrates first graduation as an independent college

New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) is pleased to announce its 2016 Graduation Ceremony will take place on Monday, May 23, 2016, 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, at the New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, NYC.  Sheila Burke, RN, MPA, Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and Strategic Advisor and Chair, Government Relations and Public Policy Group, Baker Donelson, Washington, D.C., will deliver the keynote graduation address.  Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Erline Perkins McGriff Professor of the College, will present Ms. Burke with the Helen Manzer Award in recognition of exemplary nursing leadership, strengthening public health policy. 

“This year’s graduation ceremony is a truly unique and momentous occasion for celebration of all our achievements,” said Dean Sullivan-Marx.  “Last summer, the NYU Board of Trustees gave the College of Nursing independent college status, which was a wonderful way to start off the school year.  And this spring, through a visionary donation by the Meyers family, the College’s imprimatur will be on nursing education, especially at the undergraduate level, forever.”  

“We are honored to have Sheila Burke as our first Rory Meyers College of Nursing graduation speaker,” continued Dean Sullivan-Marx.  “Ms. Burke, the former Chief of Staff to Senator Robert Dole, served in leadership roles for nearly two decades on Capitol Hill.  She is a health policy expert with a deep knowledge of federal policy and programs drawn from her distinguished career in both the public and private sectors.  Engaged and committed to improving the quality of health for all Americans through sound public policy, we are delighted to welcome Ms. Burke to join us as we celebrate the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing Class of 2016.” 

NYU Meyers will be granting a total of 598 degrees/certificates for the Class of 2016: 396 Baccalaureate Degrees; 175 Master’s Degrees; seventeen (17) Advanced Certificates; nine (9) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees; and one (1) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing Research and Theory Development Degree.

Additional awardees include:

The Distinguished Clinical Colleague Award is being presented to Loretta Sweet Jemmott, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, in recognition of her outstanding clinical leadership.  Dr. Jemmott is one of the nation's foremost researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention among African-American adolescents, having been involved with $74 million worth of federally-funded research on this issue during the course of her career.

The Humanitarian Award is being presented to Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, President of The John A. Hartford Foundation and founding dean, NYU Meyers, in recognition of outstanding humanitarian efforts on behalf of professional nursing.  Dr. Fulmer is nationally and internationally recognized as a leading expert in geriatrics and is best known for her research on the topic of elder abuse and neglect which has been funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Nursing Research.

About Shiela Burke, RN, MPA (Profile from Harvard Kennedy School)

Sheila P. Burke is Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy. She served as Executive Dean of the school from 1996-2000. Previously she had been Chief of Staff to former senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (1985-1996), a professional staff member of the Senate Committee on Finance (1979-1982), and Deputy Staff Director of that committee (1982 to 1985). She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Academy of Nursing.

She serves on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown University and is a Distinguished Visitor at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown Law Center. She serves on several boards including the Kaiser Commission on the Future of Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Partnership for Public Service, and the Association of American Medical Colleges. She served as a member of the Medicaid Payment Advisory Commission 2000-2007, the Kaiser Family Foundation 1999-2008. 

Burke, who also serves as a Senior Public Policy Advisor at Baker Donelson in Washington DC, is married and has three children. Burke holds an MPA from the Kennedy School, a BS in nursing from the University of San Francisco, and worked as a staff nurse in Berkeley, California.

About the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science with a major in Nursing, a Master of Science and Post-Master’s Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development.