Mount Carmel College of Nursing (MCCN) welcomes Melanie Dreher, PhD, RN, as speaker at 2015 Commencement, to be held Saturday, May 9 at noon at Grove City Church of the Nazarene. Dreher is chair of the board of trustees for Trinity Health, parent organization of Mount Carmel Health System. Currently serving in a number of healthcare governance roles, Dreher also is a member of the Chicago Board of Health, a director of Wellmark/Blue Cross Blue Shield and a trustee of Loyola University.
Dreher has had a distinguished career in research and academic leadership, producing several books, reports and published articles. In addition to her research studies that have been quoted widely including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education, she was a charter member of the National Institute for Nursing Research and the National Institutes of Health Council of Public Representatives. Her four decades of leadership in nursing education include Deanships at the University of Miami, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Iowa and most recently Rush University College of Nursing, where she is now Dean Emerita.
After serving as President of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), the Honor Society of Nursing, Dreher was honored by STTI through the establishment of the Melanie Dreher Dean’s Award, given annually to a dean who has most embraced the values of the Sigma Theta Tau. She also is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and recently was named among the “40 Smartest People in Healthcare” in Becker’s Hospital Report.
Dreher’s favorite accomplishment has been teaching and mentoring students and faculty over 40 years in academic nursing, which generated the greatest meaning in her career, the greatest contribution to society and the most worthwhile legacy.
