2025 American Academy of Nursing Fellows to include 16 Emory inductees

By Melanie Kieve July 8, 2025

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Melanie Kieve

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The American Academy of Nursing will induct 16 members of the Emory community into its 2025 Class of Fellows.

The Emory inductees – faculty, alumni and administrators from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Rollins School of Public Health, Laney Graduate School, and Emory Healthcare – will be recognized for their substantial contributions to health care. They will join the more than 3,200 Academy Fellows working to improve health and health equity through nursing leadership, innovation and science.

“Induction into the Academy represents the highest honor in nursing,” says Academy President Linda D. Scott, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FNAP, FAAN. “Earning the FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing) credential is a prestigious recognition of one’s accomplishments and signifies the power of nursing to transform health and enact positive outcomes.”

The 2025 Emory inductees include:

Jennifer Adamski, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, FCCM

Associate Clinical Professor and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program Director, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

A critical care nurse practitioner (NP), Adamski has led national initiatives in critical care research and education and serves as president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the largest nursing specialty organization in the world. Her research focuses on trauma prevention, rapid response systems, and critical care/trauma advances in hemorrhagic shock, and she is a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine.

Curry Bordelon, DNP, MBA, CRNP, NNP‐BC, CPNP‐AC, CNE, ANEF, FNAP

Alumnus, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Bordelon is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing and chair of its Department of Family, Community, and Health Systems. An Emory MN alumnus, he is a neonatal and pediatric acute care nurse practitioner and has been an NP manager for three neonatal ICUs. His expertise is in curricula, leadership development, and neonatal care.

Brittany Butts, PhD, RN, FAHA

Assistant Professor and Alumna, Laney Graduate School

Butts is a cardiovascular nurse scientist whose work explores the links between heart disease, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. With a PhD from Emory in nursing and immunology, she is an award-winning pathophysiology teacher whose research focuses on biological behavioral omics, health disparities, and caregiver well-being.

Nancye Feistritzer, DNP, RN, NEA-BC

Vice President, Center for Care Delivery and Innovation, Emory Healthcare
Adjunct Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Since joining Emory Healthcare in 2014, Feistritzer has held several positions, including chief nursing officer at Emory University Hospital (EUH) and Emory University Orthopaedic & Spine Hospital. She led EUH to its second and third Magnet redesignations for nursing excellence and Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital to its second Magnet designation. In her current role, she leads the design and deployment of innovative care delivery models for Emory Healthcare.

Ellen Harvey, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, TCRN, SCRN, FCCM

Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Harvey is a clinical nurse specialist at the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va. An Emory MN graduate, she has published on the nurse’s role in team performance and the impact of clinical nurse specialists on advancing evidence-based practice. A fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine, she is a regional animal therapy nonprofit board member and a licensed animal therapy handler.

Angela Haynes-Ferere, DNP, FNP-BC, MPH, FAANP

Associate Clinical Professor and Distance Accelerated BSN Program Director, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins School of Public Health

Haynes-Ferere is also a family nurse practitioner (FNP) and educator who focuses on acute and chronic care, remote nursing education, experiential learning, global health, holistic care, and vulnerable populations. An Emory MPH, BSN, and MSN graduate, she leads a nonprofit organization that provides health care in the Cap Haitian region of Haiti.

Kay Kennedy, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CPHQ

Alumna and Adjunct Associate Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Kennedy is also CEO of uLeadership, a health care leadership development company, and co-author of Human-Centered Leadership in Healthcare: Evolution of a Revolution. She has held leadership positions from the bedside to chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services. She holds a DNP in executive leadership from the MGH Institute of Health Professions and an MN, BSN, and AA from Emory.

Andrea Knopp, PhD, MSN, MPH, FNP-BC

Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins School of Public Health

A family nurse practitioner with MSN and MPH degrees from Emory, Knopp is a professor and associate director of graduate programs at the James Madison University School of Nursing. Her work involves international health, internal medicine, HIV primary care, health determinants, women’s health, and primary care projects, and she has served in Egypt, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.

Heather Meissen, DNP, ACNP, CCRN, FCCM, FAANP

Associate Clinical Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Emory University Hospital

Meissen works in the surgical ICU at Emory University Hospital and was the founding director of Emory Healthcare’s Critical Care Nurse Practitioner Fellowship, the nation’s first to be accredited as a practice transition program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Her research focuses on NP workforce development, including onboarding, retention, and staffing models.

Jennifer Moon, DNP, MPH, MSN, FNP-BC

Alumna, Rollins School of Public Health

As chief nurse officer of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Rear Admiral Moon advises the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the designated federal-level chief nursing officer for nurse recruitment, deployment, retention and development. A nurse practitioner and former emergency department nurse, she earned an MPH from Emory and has served in various federal government positions.

Anita Rich, DNP, RN, CHFN, CDCES, CGNC

Senior Clinical Instructor and Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

With a long career in the clinical management of heart failure, Rich is also CEO of Nurses Heart to Heart, a nonprofit that provides education and resources to nurses in developing and post-conflict countries. An Emory BSN alumna, she was the 2024 recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Nurse of the Year in Transformational Leadership and the 2023 recipient of the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association’s Heart Failure Nurse of the Year.

Bethany Robertson, DNP, CNM, FNAP

Clinical Professor and Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

An Emory MSN graduate, Robertson is also a clinical executive at Wolters Kluwer Health and has been a nurse, Certified Nurse Midwife, and nurse executive. Her work concentrates on workforce development models and programs focusing on interprofessional practice and education, health care quality and safety, and residency programs, including a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded FNP residency program with Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Trisha Sheridan, DNP, WHNP-BC, SANE-A, SANE-P, FAANP

Associate Clinical Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Sheridan is a forensic nursing leader and director of the Georgia Forensic Nursing and Southeast Alliance for Forensic Excellence (SAFE) Networks, where she trains health care, law, and social service professionals to improve care for survivors of violence. With a background in women’s health, vulnerable populations, and interprofessional education, she is a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Athena Sherman, PhD, PHN, RN, CNE

Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Sherman’s research involves multi-level intervention development to improve health outcomes for LGBTQ+ people. Specifically, they work with nursing schools internationally to integrate LGBTQ+ health content into nursing curricula and partner with transgender and gender expansive people to prevent and address the impacts of stigma, trauma and violence on mental health. A former Emory postdoc, they also have a San Francisco-based clinical practice in end-of-life care with VITAS Healthcare.

LeeAnna Spiva, PhD, RN

Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Spiva is the assistant vice president of nursing practice and operations at WellStar Health System in Marietta, Georgia. She has served the system in various positions across her 20-year career, leading the organization in achieving Magnet recognition and Pathway to Excellence designations and overseeing the implementation of a nurse residency program. An Emory BSN and MSN graduate, she is also a researcher with 175-plus combined publications and presentations on evidence-based models of care.

Paula Tucker, PhD, DNP, FNP-BC, ENP-C, FAANP

Associate Clinical Professor and Emergency Nurse Practitioner Program Director, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Alumna, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Laney Graduate School

Tucker is an emergency nurse practitioner and national leader in health professions education, workforce development, and clinical practice. An Emory MSN and PhD graduate, she practices at the Grady Emergency Care Center and researches traumatic brain injury. She holds leadership positions in national NP organizations and helps shape policy and educational standards for the emergency NP workforce.

“I am incredibly proud to see 16 members of the Emory community receive this prestigious recognition,” says Linda McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. “These individuals exemplify the best of Emory – advancing science, shaping policy, and transforming care. Their induction into this elite group of nurse leaders is a testament to their dedication and the bright future they continue to shape for our field.”

“With a commitment to exceptional care and mentorship, these inductees embody the spirit of Emory,” says Sharon Pappas, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare. “This recognition reinforces what we know to be true — when nurses lead, they elevate entire communities. I’m proud to celebrate them as 2025 Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing.”

The newest Fellows represent 42 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 12 countries. The Academy will induct them during its annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., in October.

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