Beth Tigges elected Sigma nursing president

UNM College of Nursing professor leads 135,000-member honor society

University of New Mexico College of Nursing Associate Professor and Regents' Professor Beth Baldwin Tigges, PhD, was recently named Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing's (Sigma) 2017-2019 president.

Tigges will oversee the 12-member Sigma Board of Directors and represent the organization at high-level meetings around the world, leading the society to "Connect. Collaborate. Catalyze." Her stated focus will be urging Sigma members to use state-of-the-art technology to advance global health.

"I am honored to serve as Sigma President for the next two years," Tigges says. "This organization has been a tremendously positive part of my professional life. I look forward to meeting Sigma members around the world and changing lives through healthcare."

Tigges joined the College of Nursing as a lecturer in 1989, taught in the Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Midwifery concentrations for 17 years, and currently teaches in the PhD program. She has held several leadership positions within the College of Nursing, including Interim Senior Associate Dean for Research, and is currently the Director of Evaluation for the NIH-funded UNM Clinical and Translational Science Center.

Tigges' major areas of interest and research are recruitment strategies for community-based studies, team science and community engagement, and evaluation of research centers.

Sigma is a nonprofit organization comprised of more than 135,000 active members in more than 90 countries and territories whose mission is advancing world health and celebrating nursing excellence in scholarship, leadership and service. Members include practicing nurses, instructors, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and others.