The CEO of the National League for Nursing (www.nln.org), Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been elected a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, effective immediately. Dr. Malone's election took place at the October 16 meeting of the academy's board of trustees; she was notified of her selection in a letter from NYAM president Jo Ivey Boufford, MD.

Since its founding in 1847, the Academy of Medicine, a non-profit institution, has sought to improve the health of people living in cities, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable populations, through research, education, community engagement, and evidence-based advocacy. Fellows have long played an important role in advancing the academy's mission.

Leaders in the fields of law, social work, nursing, education, and research, as well as in medicine, fellows are a distinguished group, making an impact on health care policy and practice.

"I am honored that the New York Academy of Medicine has invited me to join its ranks. I look forward to contributing insights from my experience and sharing ideas with colleagues across the disciplines whose interests and goals are focused on building a quality health care system for our communities," said Dr. Malone.

In February, Dr. Malone took the reins of the NLN, the nation's premier membership organization for nurse educators and schools of nursing at all levels of higher education, amidst a shortage of nurses and nurse educators of near crisis proportions. In her keynote address at the NLN's 2007 Education Summit in September, Dr. Malone called for "change with results...positive change. The challenges and opportunities facing health care in the 21st century, and facing each of us as leaders and nurse educators demand transformation."

Hallmarks of her dynamic leadership of the NLN are already evident, averred NLN president, Dr. Elaine Tagliareni. "In less than a year," she said, "the League has seen a significant growth in individual members, who now number more than 24,000, and the addition of a new category of associate membership covering agencies, organizations, and companies who are committed to helping meet the needs of our ever-changing health care environment." Dr. Malone has also been a driving force in the NLN's increased advocacy to extend health coverage to the uninsured; increase access to quality health care for all sectors of the population; increase funding for nursing workforce development; promote greater ethnic/cultural/gender diversity and minority representation among nurses and nurse educators; increase compensation for nurse faculty, a key factor in recruitment and retention; and ongoing professional development, as the foundation for advancing standards of excellence and maximizing positive outcomes in health care delivery.

Before joining the NLN, she served for six years as general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing in London, the world's largest professional union of nurses; and prior to that, was deputy assistant secretary for health in the federal Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration.

In her life-long commitment to public health, Dr. Malone's synergy with the New York Academy of Medicine is self-evident. By investigating the physical and social factors that contribute to the health and well-being of urban dwellers, through an array of initiatives conducted by more than 100 advanced degree professionals, the academy helps guide, influence, and shape public health care policy and develop appropriate interventions that reduce and prevent disease. Academy research has generated an impressive array of scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals, including the academy's own Journal of Urban Health, as well as symposia and conferences.

Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, please contact NLN chief communications officer, Karen R. Klestzick, at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick @ nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing education, the National League for Nursing (www.nln.org) is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 24,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members.