NYU Nursing Honors Swinney

[Health News]

The New York University College of Nursing this year hosted Jean Elizabeth Swinney, Ph.D., R.N., who received her B.S. in nursing in 1964 and M.A. in 1980 from the College, as guest speaker and honoree at the 17^th annual Estelle Osborne Recognition Ceremony. Ms. Swinney was honored for her lifetime of outstanding contributions to international health and to the support of African-Americans in nursing.

The ceremony was held on Thursday, February 28, at 3:30 p.m. in the NYU D’Agostino Hall. Among the guests present at the ceremony were Rachel Robinson, founder of the Jackie Robinson Foundation which provides educational and leadership opportunities for minority students, and producer/anchorwoman Cheryl Washington, who emceed the event.

Dr. Jean Elizabeth Swinney received her Baccalaureate and Masters degrees in Nursing at the New York University (NYU) Division of Nursing, then went on to earn her doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst School of Nursing where she teaches nursing and MS/MPH programs.

Dr. Swinney’s career has been dedicated to providing quality health care to the uninsured and underinsured through her community health experiences. Her career has been diverse and included assignments both in the United States and Africa. In New York City, she worked in a neighborhood community health center dedicated to quality community based health care services and home health care and urban communities. In Africa, she was an instructor at Ahmadu Bello University School of Nursing in Nigeria, and coordinated activities between the public health team, the Government of Botswana, Ministry of Health, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Meharry Medical College.

Dr. Swinney’s life has been committed to decreasing or eliminating health disparities. In order to accomplish this goal, her research is focused on African Americans with cancer and their perceptions of health and quality of life, and increasing workforce diversity. Dr. Swinney is proud of her education at NYU and embodies the mission and values of the College of Nursing.

The Estelle Osborne Award was established to honor the extraordinary leadership of Professor Osborne (1901-1981), the first black faculty member at NYU, who taught from 1945 to 1954 in what is now the College of Nursing.