Gloria SmithGloria R Smith

PhD, MA(Anthropology), MPH, BSN, FAAN

Gloria Smith was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing in 2003 for her outstanding contribution to leadership, community partnerships and empowerment of nursing.

Now retired, Gloria was Vice President for Programs – Health at the Kellogg Foundation in Michigan – one of the most prominent philanthropic organisations in the USA.

Gloria’s outstanding achievements in nursing and public health and her service to communities within the USA and other countries have won her international recognition and respect for her exemplary and inspirational leadership. Her unwavering commitment to making health improvements for all sectors of society, particularly those living in more disadvantaged communities, is evident throughout her long and distinguished career.

As a public health nurse she contributed to improving services for isolated families living in larger cities and remote rural areas. In her faculty positions in nursing schools she helped to make the curriculum as relevant as possible to the needs of the local community. As a nursing school dean she initiated special projects, including supporting the advancement of men in nursing and expanding the racial and ethnic diversity within the faculty and student body. As the director of the large state public health agency she ensured that critical health problems were addressed, demonstrating her considerable skill and diplomacy in all her dealings.

In her most recent role, Gloria has been able to exert her influence to provide programmes of support that offer health improvement for communities both inside and outside the USA, including two international regions where the Kellogg Foundation has programmes – Latin America and the Caribbean and six countries of southern Africa. In her retirement, she continues to speak and lecture, maintaining her membership of various business and professional organisations and working as a community volunteer.

A brilliant scholar, her innovative work has an international influence on nursing education and practice. She has contributed to a wealth of nursing knowledge, particularly in the fields of health policy, public health, nursing research, the application of anthropology to nursing, the development of home care systems and programmes, and nursing leadership. Additionally, her work has had a profound impact on the multicultural components of the nursing curriculum. She has been instrumental in developing minorities within nursing into leadership positions, both at home and abroad. In 2002, the American Nurses Foundation initiated the Gloria Smith Endowed Research Fellowships for All Nurses, which will run until 2010.

A variety of awards and honours spans her career from the early years to the present day. These range from her award of Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1966 to the Nightingale Lamp Award, given by the American Nurses Foundation in 2001. In 1973 she was heralded as an Outstanding Educator of America and in 1977 Fellowship of the American Academy of Nursing was conferred upon her. She has also been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and received the Trail Blazer Award from the National Black Nurses Association. She has received honorary doctorate degrees from the Universities of Cincinnati and Oklahoma and was awarded the 2003 International Distinguished Leadership Award by the Commission on Graduates from Foreign Nursing Schools.

Publications

Dr Smith’s publications include chapters contributed to books and many articles; some of which are:

  • ‘Health, survival and the progress of the black female’, Perspectives on African-American Women. National Council of Negro Women, Inc., Time Warner, 1996.
  • ‘Commentary: Power and health care reform’, Journal of Nursing Education, 1995.
  • ‘Lessons learned: challenge for the future’, Nursing and Health Care, 1995.
  • ‘Guest editorial: The paradox of collaboration’, Nursing and Health Care, 1994.
  • ‘Nursing and political power: the cutting edge of change’, in Current Issues in Nursing. (eds JC McClosky and HK Grace) third edition. Mosby, 1990.
  • ‘Women and the empowerment: lessons from the Geraldine Ferraro case’, in Current Issues in Nursing, (eds JC McClosky and HK Grace) third edition. Mosby, 1990.
  • ‘Using the public agenda to shape public health nursing practice’, Nursing Outlook, 1989: 36(2), 72-75.
  • ‘The new health care economy: opportunities for nurse entrepreneurs’, Nursing Outlook, 1987: 35(4), 182.
  • ‘Unionization for nurses: an issue for the 1980s’, Journal of Professional Nursing, 1985.
  • ‘Compensating faculty for their clinical practice’, Nursing Outlook, 1980.
  • ‘Development of a faculty practice reimbursement plan’, in Health Policy and Nursing Practice (ed. Linda Aiken). McGraw Hill, 1980.
  • ‘From invisibility to blackness: the story of the National Black Nurses Association’, Nursing Outlook, 1975.