The American Association of College of Nursing names new president
WASHINGTON — Eileen Breslin, dean and professor of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, has been elected to serve a two-year term as president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Breslin assumed the presidency at AACN’s 2014 Spring Business Meeting held March 24 in Washington, D.C.
“Preparing the next generation of nurses to be thought leaders is critical to ushering in meaningful change at the highest levels of health care and higher education,” Breslin said. “As AACN’s president, I am looking forward to answering this call by working closely with member schools, staff and all stakeholders to shape future AACN initiatives that advance leadership in nursing education, research and practice.”
Breslin began her career in academia at Northern Arizona University, where she served as an assistant professor, tenured professor and chair of the Department of Nursing from 1989 through 1998. She then moved to the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, where she served as dean of the School of Nursing for 10 years and interim dean for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences for three years. In 2008, Breslin joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as dean of the School of Nursing, and she also holds an appointment as adjunct professor in public health at the San Antonio Regional Campus of the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston.
Breslin, whose personal career interests include women’s health and public health nursing, led a number of major initiatives during her nine years as dean at UMass. She instituted a doctor of nursingpractice degree, a clinical nurse leader program, and a dual Master of Science and Master of Public Health program ― all firsts in Massachusetts.
Breslin’s long-time service on the AACN board serving as president-elect (2012-2014), treasurer (2005-2009), member-at-large (2001-2005) and member of the Government Affairs Committee (1994-1998). Breslin also represented AACN at the American Nurses Association Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics, as a member of the AACN/Department of Veterans Affairs Liaison Committee, on the task force that issued AACN’s 1999 position statement titled “Violence as a Public Health Problem” and as a state grassroots liaison.
Among her recognitions and awards, Breslin has been recognized as a Distinguished Practitioner in Nursing by the National Academies of Practice in 2000. Her most recent honors include the National President’s Award from the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and the Sigma Theta Tau Image Maker Award. She is a fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, as well as a Distinguished Practitioner in Nursing of the National Academies of Practice.