Vanderbilt alumna G. Rumay Alexander, MSN’77, EdD, RN, FAAN, will present the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture on Tuesday, November 15, at noon CT in Nursing Annex room 155. The in-person lecture, “Health Equity…Growing in Understanding by Design Not Default,” is free and open to the Vanderbilt community. Attendees are welcomed to bring a lunch.
“Rumay Alexander is recognized nationally and internationally for her expertise in diversity, inclusion and issues of health equity,” said Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, dean of Vanderbilt School of Nursing. “Her experience and intricate understanding of the marginalizing processes and her work across numerous organizations have allowed her to foster understanding and change.”
Alexander will discuss providing health equity despite inequitable structures and systems. Her presentation will challenge everyone to examine their attitudes and beliefs through a health equity lens and subsequently, to take courageous strides toward transformative actions which will benefit the health of all.
She is a professor in the School of Nursing, assistant dean of relational excellence at the Adams School of Dentistry, and formerly the associate vice-chancellor for diversity and inclusion/chief diversity officer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the American Nurses Association’s Scholar-in-Residence Addressing Racism in Nursing, a board member of the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that works to help health care consumers, and former president of the National League for Nursing.
This VUSN Dean’s Diversity Lecture is held in connection with Vanderbilt’s week-long Academy for Diverse Emerging Leaders, a new initiative providing mentorship and leadership education for early-career nurse leaders in health care organizations and academia who are from or support underrepresented groups in nursing leadership.
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture Series was established in 2017. It explores the diversity of backgrounds, cultures, ideas and viewpoints in our world today. It seeks to equip students, faculty, staff and other community members with the knowledge and understanding needed to lead nursing forward in a global society.