The National League for Nursing (NLN) has established a new award named in honor of Marilyn H.  Oermann, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Thelma M. Ingles Professor of Nursing at Duke University School of Nursing. This brand-new award recognizes an individual or team that has generated an evidentiary base for the science of nursing education. In addition to having a significant impact on students, faculty, systems or the environment, this individual or team must have served as a mentor and leader in developing and influencing the next generation of nurse educator scientists.

The award is aptly named as Oermann is widely considered an outstanding role model for nurse researchers and educators. She has written a prolific 34 books and with only one exception, all of them have been focused on nursing education. Oermann has written more than 215 articles in peer-reviewed journals. A recent article, entitled “Adopting Evidence-based Educational Approaches in Nursing”, is an example of her dedication to the scholarship of teaching.

“I cannot say enough about her contributions to nursing education,” said Dr. Beverly Malone, President of the National League for Nursing. “Her dedication as a teacher and researcher, her numerous publications, her generosity as a mentor, all have served to advance the science of nursing education.”

Before having an award named in her honor, Oermann received the NLN Award for Excellence in Nursing Education Research, the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth Russell Belford Award for Excellence in Education, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Excellence Award, the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing from the International Academy of Nursing Editors, and the NLN President’s Award.

“When I was told that the National League for Nursing established a new Award named after me, truthfully, I could not believe it,” said Oermann. “This award recognizes nurse educators who are committed to building the science of nursing education and to disseminating educational scholarship.”

The inaugural award was presented to Dr. Cynthia Clark at the closing plenary of the 2023 NLN Nursing Education Research Conference, which took place in Washington, DC in late spring. The theme was “Regenerating Research in Nursing Education: Moving the Science Forward.”