Awards

School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award - 1999

About Brenda L. Cleary

Brenda Cleary is currently consulting with Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society on ageing initiatives, including developing a Center for Nursing Excellence in Long Term Care and broader leadership initiatives in aging. From 2008-2011, she served as the inaugural director of the Center to Champion Nursing in America--a joint initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—to address the growing nurse and nurse faculty shortage. Cleary is also an expert in healthcare workforce research and policy and for fourteen years prior to joining AARP, she held the position of Executive Director of the North Carolina Center for Nursing. Formerly, Cleary was Regional Dean and Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing.

Cleary received a BSN and MSN from Indiana University and a PhD in Nursing from The University of Texas at Austin and was recognized as a distinguished alumna by both schools of nursing. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors at Indiana University School of Nursing.