Awards Bring Nursing Research Merited Attention

Major nursing organizations recently bestowed honors on two faculty members in the Connell School of Nursing: Dean Susan Gennaro was named to Sigma Theta Tau International’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, and professor Ann Wolbert Burgess was given the inaugural Living Legend Award from the New England Chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Both were recognized for their immense contributions to the fields of nursing and healthcare through their innovative research.

As the smallest undergraduate division of Boston College, CSON faculty make up a relatively small percentage of the faculty at BC, and as professors in a pre-professional school, it is often forgotten that many of them actively take part in the world of research, as well as the professional world of a nurse. Consequently, many members of the BC community may not know that some of the University’s leading scholars are in nursing. These honors serve as a reminder of the impressive scholastic work being done in every undergraduate division at BC.

Gennaro and Burgess, through the work that has earned them these honors, personify the pillars of a Jesuit education. Gennaro focuses on improving health outcomes surrounding childbirth in developing countries, and Burgess has long been renowned as a trailblazer in the realm of impact trauma and abuse. By using their education to identify and serve a need in this world, they bring to life the ideals of attentiveness and social justice that are taught in the classrooms here.