Geraldine Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN, was appointed executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in December 1989. In this role, Dr. Bednash oversees the educational, research, governmental affairs, databank, publications, and other programs of the organization that is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate-degree education programs in nursing – the nation’s largest health care profession.

Representing more than 500 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to furthering nursing education in America’s universities and four-year colleges.

Prior to serving as Executive Director, Dr. Bednash headed the Association’s legislative and regulatory advocacy programs as director of government affairs. In that post since 1986, she directed AACN’s efforts to secure strong federal support for nursing education and nursing research, coordinated new initiatives with federal agencies and with major foundations, and co-authored AACN’s landmark study of the financial costs to students and to clinical guidelines of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education.

Dr. Bednash currently serves as vice president for nursing of the Health Professions Education Council of the Association of Academic Health Centers and is a member of the editorial boards of several leading nursing publications, including the journal Nursing Economics. Her publications and research presentations cover a range of critical issues in nursing education, nursing research, clinical practice and legislative policy.

Prior to joining AACN, Dr. Bednash was assistant professor at the School of Nursing at George Mason University and a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Fellow in Primary Care at the University of Maryland. Her experience includes development of resource policy for the Geriatric Research, Evaluation, and Clinical Centers of the Veterans Administration; serving as nurse practitioner and consultant to the family practice residency program at DeWitt Army Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and service as an Army Nurse Corps staff nurse in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

Dr. Bednash received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Texas Woman’s University, Master of Science in nursing from The Catholic University of America, and doctorate in higher education policy and law from the University of Maryland. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of nursing’s national honor society, Sigma Theta Tau.