Professional Recognition

UNM Professors Judy Liesveld & Beth Tigges to be Inducted as Fellows in the American Academy of Nursing

Two University of New Mexico College of Nursing faculty members have been selected as fellows by the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of their significant contributions and impact in advancing public health.

Judy Liesveld, PhD, PPCNP-BC, RN, CNE, professor and interim associate dean of innovation & community outreach, and Beth Tigges, PhD, RN, PPCNP-BC, professor, were among 225 individuals selected to be inducted into the 2021 class of fellows.

The induction ceremony will take place at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, to be held Oct. 7-9, in Washington, D.C. The 2021 fellows represent 38 states, the District of Columbia and 18 countries.

Induction into the Academy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career in which their accomplishments are honored by their colleagues within and outside the profession.

At UNM, Liesveld is the principal investigator for a Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Education Practice, Quality and Retention grant promoting primary care nursing for students who are veterans.

She has served on the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium leadership council, securing more than $900,000 in grant funding over the past eight years for the organization.

She has also worked as a consultant in Sri Lanka, helping establish the country’s first master’s degree in nursing program. She has also collaborated to establish clinical experiences for students in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Navajo Nation.

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Liesveld has worked in nursing education, community health, school nursing and prison nursing. She also worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner in rural New Mexico for more than a dozen years.

“I am deeply honored to be inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing along with Dr. Tigges,” Liesveld said. “One the Academy's goals is to position nurse leaders to advance local and global change. Through my work at the College of Nursing and with the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium I will continue to work toward this goal.”

 

One the Academy's goals is to position nurse leaders to advance local and global change . . . I will continue to work toward this goal

— Judy Liesveld, PhD

Tigges is an experienced academician and researcher who has led or co-led multiple National Institutes of Health interdisciplinary initiatives to address knowledge gaps in team science and mentoring, contending that leadership should be a priority for all nurses, regardless of role or seniority.

She co-developed and led psychometric testing of the first set of scales to measure organizational mentoring climate. She is an expert in evaluating NIH interdisciplinary research centers, and over the past four years, co-chaired the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium’s Program Evaluators’ Group, comprised of evaluators from over 50 NIH-funded sites.

Tigges has held elected leadership positions in Sigma Theta Tau International for more than 25 years, serving as the organization’s president from 2017-2019.

“I’m delighted to be inducted into the Academy this year with esteemed colleagues from around the world, some of whom I’ve worked with for many years,” Tigges said. “It is an honor, and I’m grateful.”

The American Academy of Nursing serves the public by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis and dissemination of nursing knowledge.

Academy fellows are inducted into the organization for their extraordinary contributions to improving health locally and globally. With more than 2,800 fellows, the Academy represents nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice and academia.

I’m delighted to be inducted into the Academy this year with esteemed colleagues from around the world, some of whom I’ve worked with for many years

— Beth Tigges, PhD