BALTIMORE – A leading global voice on the future of healthcare will address Notre Dame of Maryland University graduates and families at the Commencement ceremony on May 20, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. at the Baltimore Convention Center. Dr. Beverly Malone will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Notre Dame.
Dr. Malone has served as President and CEO of the National League for Nursing since 2007. Her distinguished career blends policy, education, administration, and clinical practice – including the position of federal deputy assistant secretary for health under President Bill Clinton. She is internationally recognized as the first African American General Secretary of the United Kingdom (UK) Royal College of Nursing representing 400,000 nurses. President Clinton appointed her to serve on the U.S. delegation to the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization, and later, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed her to serve on the UK delegation for the same group. In the U.S., she contributed to the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” and served on the Minority Health Federal Advisory Committee.
She is currently vice chair at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Board of Directors, co-leads the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Health Professional Education and Communication Working Group, and serves on NAM’s Steering Committee. Additionally, she is a member of ecoAmerica’s Leadership Circle Executive Committee.
Dr. Malone has received numerous national and global honors, including the 2024 Hall of Fame Award by the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the 2024 Mary Elizabeth Carnegie Leadership in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) Award by the American Academy of Nursing. The National Black Nurses Association recognized her as a 2024 inaugural Fellow in the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (FADLN). Also, in 2024, she was profiled by The Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, a feat that reaffirms her role as a global healthcare leader.
A year earlier, Modern Healthcare, a leading publication in healthcare, named her to the 2023 list of the Top 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives in Health Care, as well as to its 100 Most Influential People in Health Care for the fourth straight year. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) presented her with the prestigious 2023 Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein Award for her commitment and excellence in advancing the nursing profession internationally.
In addition to being awarded over 20 honorary degrees, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, as well as a Master of Science in Adult Psychiatric Nursing from Rutgers University.
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.
