ANN ARBOR—Kathleen Potempa, dean of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, has been elected to serve a two-year term as president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Potempa assumed the presidency Monday at AACN’s annual spring meeting in Washington, D.C.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. It represents more than 640 schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide.

“Educating the next generation of professional nurses in sufficient numbers is critical to sustaining the health of the nation and foundational to AACN’s mission,” Potempa said.

“As AACN’s president, I welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with academic, practice, and policy leaders to thoughtfully address the challenges confronting nursing education,” she said. “Together, we can take meaningful steps toward identifying solutions to strengthening the preparation and pipeline of nurses serving as educators, scientists, primary care providers and front-line clinicians.”

Potempa has been an educator in baccalaureate and higher-degree programs since 1978, and an administrator since 1975.

Before her appointment at U-M, she served as dean of the School of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University, and later as vice president and dean. Prior to her tenure at OHSU, Potempa was interim dean and associate dean at the University of Illinois at Chicago and director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center in Nursing and Midwifery.

She has been elected several times to the AACN Board of Directors: as president-elect (2008-2010), secretary (2002-2004), and member-at-large (2000-2002). She also chaired the association’s Task Force on Distance Technology in Education and was a member of its Task Force on the Hallmarks of Professional Nursing Practice.

Potempa is a nursing leader who has served on many organizational committees, advisory councils and boards. She was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services as an advisory board member of the National Advisory Council for Nurse Education and Practice (2002-2006). During her time on the council, she was elected to the Executive Committee and served as chair for two years. She recently was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to the National Council for Nursing Research. Her term commenced Feb. 1, 2009.

In addition to her work on national committees, Potempa is an accomplished nursing scientist who has been continually funded since 1984. Her research focuses on fatigue, exercise and cardiovascular fitness, as well as nursing pedagogy. Her expertise as a researcher has led her to serve on national expert panels and committees, including National Institutes of Health panels that evaluate grant applications and research findings. In recognition of her work, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Her international contributions to nursing have included numerous keynote addresses at international conferences for nursing and interdisciplinary audiences, including visiting professorships at universities of other countries.

AACN’s educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor’s and graduate-degree nursing education, to assist deans and directors to implement those standards, to influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and to promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research and practice.

American Association of Colleges of NursingSchool of Nursing