FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2000

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Terri Gaffney, 202-651-7110
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The American Academy of Nursing has elected four distinguished fellows as Living Legends in 2000. The four honorees, Jeanne Quint Benoliel, DNSc, RN, FAAN, Shirley Chater, PhD, RN, FAAN, Geraldine Felton, EdD, RN, FAAN and Thelma Schorr, RN, Hon-CNNFC, FAAN were nominated and selected based upon their continued contributions to the nursing profession and for meeting the Academy's Governing Council selection criteria .

In 1995, the Governing Council of the Academy approved the process designating up to four Fellows to the status of Living Legends each year at the Academy's Annual Meeting and Conference. AAN held its annual meeting from November 2 to 4th in San Diego, California. The Council's decision is predicated on recognizing the most stellar Academy Fellows as reminders of nursing's proud history and as role models for all nurses, as well as a way to provide an opportunity for Fellows to meet and interact with long established Fellows, so various generations of leaders may become better acquainted with each other.

Jeanne Benoliel was inducted as an Academy Fellow in 1974. She is Professor Emeritus of Psychosocial and Community Health at the University of Washington, where she served as faculty for 20 years and was the first Elizabeth Sterling Soule Professor. Benoliel is best known for her research of psychosocial transition in cancer patients, evaluation of cancer management, dying, spouse bereavement after cancer death, and the efforts of support on Breast Self Examination (BSE) in older women and is noted for her contributions to the field of thanotology. Benoliel and a colleague initiated a graduate program, Transition Services, to train nurses to launch community-based services for advanced cancer patients and their families. She has authored six books, 86 journal articles, and contributed to an additional 74 books.

Shirley Chater is currently Visiting Professor at the Institute for Health and Aging at the University of California School of Nursing, San Francisco, California. She served as Commissioner of the United States Social Security Administration from 1993-1997, where she launched a Acustomers-first@ strategy and successfully implemented redesign efforts to increase efficiency. From 1986-1993, she was President of Texas Woman's University in Denton and initiated major restructuring which resulted in increased enrollment and fiscal stability. She currently serves as chair of the national advisory committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow Program and is an independent lecturer and consultant.

Geraldene Felton was inducted into the American Academy of nursing in 1973. She was a professor and the Dean of the University of Iowa College of Nursing until January, 1997.

Her many accomplishments include rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Army Nurse Corps at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and serving on the Pew/Robert Wood Johnson National Advisory Committee on Strengthening Hospital Nursing.

Felton was also a member of the Special Medical Advisory Group of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institute of Health National Advisory Council for Nursing Research. She has been the principal investigator of 17 funded research and training projects and authored eight book chapters, 12 monographs, and 50 journal articles.

Thelma M. Schorr is best known as former editor-in-chief and president of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) and publisher of Nursing Outlook; Nursing Research; The Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing; Geriatric Nursing, and the International Nursing Index in addition to AJN. Early in her career at Bellevue Hospital in New York, New York, she successfully mounted a nursing protest against unsafe ward conditions during a tuberculosis outbreak. Her efforts resulted in the transfer of TB patients from an open ward where non-TB patients were placed at risk to a specialized facility that could better care for TB patients. Throughout her career, Schorr has campaigned for nurses to become politically and professionally active as advocates on health care issues. She currently serves as editorial consultant to the National Student Nurses Association and has co-authored two books.

The Academy represents distinguished leaders in nursing who have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to the profession and to health care. The Academy was established in 1973 under the aegis of the American Nurses Association, the professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million registered nurses.

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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 54 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

2000 press releases

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