Nurses Educational Funds, Inc, New York, NY (2026)

08/11/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Maria L. Vezina, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Dr. Vezina is the System Vice President/Chief of Nursing Practice, Education, APN Credentialing, and Labor Partnerships for the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Vezina has an executive system leadership role with responsibility for all levels of professional nursing practice, education, advanced practice, and labor relations initiatives for the health system, which spans eight hospitals. Before this, Dr. Vezina was the Chief Nursing Officer/ Vice President, Nursing at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City. She also holds a faculty appointment in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and she is on the Board of Advisors of several metropolitan schools of nursing, including New York University, Lehman College, and Long Island University.

Dr. Vezina is currently certified by ANCC as a Nurse Executive, Advanced, and was an ANCC-certified ANP for 10 years. She was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2019, a Fellow of the The New York Academy of Medicine in 2013, and appointed as a member of the New York State Board of Nursing in 2015. She is also on the Board of Trustees at Hartwick College, her alma mater.

A prolific writer, her publications and presentations cover an eclectic range of topics that serve to inform policy development, as well as inspire nursing practice and education. She has been recognized with awards for nursing practice and leadership by several organizations, including the Local Chapter of the Critical Care Nurses Association, New York University Rory College of Nursing, and the Greater New York Nassau Suffolk Organization for Nursing Leadership.

Learn more about Dr. Vezina at: n-e-f.org/mvezina

08/06/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Philip J. Ryan, CPA

Phil Ryan brings nearly forty years of experience in healthcare financial management to Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. In March 2021, he retired as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Guthrie Clinic. Prior to his tenure at Guthrie, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Crozer Keystone Health System.

Phil’s background in the healthcare industry includes exposure to multi-state markets, including both metropolitan and rural markets. In addition to thirteen years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for external/internal financial reporting, treasury management, investor relations, government relations, labor relations, as well as activities related to mergers and acquisitions. Phil has also presented at Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and other industry conferences on a variety of healthcare finance related topics.

Phil continues to be an active member of the community in his retirement. He currently serves on the Finance and Investment committees at the Guthrie Clinic, as well as the Guthrie Risk Retention Group. He also supports the fundraising committee for Animal Care Sanctuary.

Learn more about Phil at: n-e-f.org/pryan

08/04/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Annie Rohan, PhD, RN, FAANP, FAAN

In 2026, Dr. Annie Rohan joined the Nurses Educational Funds Board of Directors. Dr. Rohan is a dual-certified Nurse Practitioner whose academic achievements rest on the foundation of a 25-year clinical career caring for critically and chronically ill infants and children and high-risk families. Following this clinical "first half" of her career, Dr. Rohan has emerged as a leader in academia, most recently as Endowed Chair and Dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she is also a tenured Professor.

As a researcher, Dr. Rohan currently serves as the Principal Investigator for a National Science Foundation Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (NSF-EPIIC) Program (NSF 2433183), participates as an NIH K-Award mentor, and has been PI or co-PI on many other federal and foundation awards. She especially enjoys teaching and mentorship, such as volunteering as a health-sector mentor for emerging technology developers at the Long Island Biomedical Incubator (LIBMI), and as a writing mentor for aspiring editors.

She is currently Associate Editor of MCN: The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, for which she coordinates a nationally disseminated bi-monthly practice column. She has also served as Associate Editor for AWHONN’s Perinatal Nursing textbook (5th ed.), a primary professional resource that shapes standards of care for maternity and newborn care.

Dr. Rohan is a perpetual member of the March of Dimes National Nurse Advisory Council. She has also served as co-chair of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners' Pediatric Special Interest Group, as alumni advisor for Jonas Philanthropies, and on the National Nursing Practice Advisory Council (NPAC) for the American Nurses Association.

Learn more about Dr. Rohan at: n-e-f.org/arohan

07/30/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Nancy Roecklein, PhD, ANP-BC, AOCNP, CBCN

Dr. Nancy Roecklein advances oncology nursing through scholarship, mentorship, leadership, and the translation of research into meaningful, equitable patient care. A doctoral-prepared oncology nurse practitioner, nurse scientist, and educator with extensive experience in breast cancer care, she joined the NEF Board of Directors in 2024.

Dr. Roecklein practices in Breast Medical Oncology at NYU Langone Health and teaches at CUNY Lehman College. Her doctoral research examined surgical decision-making in women with early-stage breast cancer, generating a substantive theory with direct implications for patient counseling, health equity, and oncology nursing practice.

An NEF Scholar, Dr. Roecklein previously served as the organization’s first student liaison to the Board of Directors. Her vision helped inspire the creation of NEF’s Circle of Scholars, a community that fosters mentorship, leadership development, and the continued success of NEF scholars. She serves on the NEF Criteria and Eligibility Committee, is an active member of the ONS NYC Chapter Legislative Committee, and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Upsilon Chapter.

Learn more about Dr. Roecklein at: n-e-f.org/nroecklein

07/28/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Jerelyn Peixoto Weiss, MS, JD, RN, FNP

Jerelyn Weiss was the Executive Director of Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. from 2015 to 2026. She became the face of NEF to countless scholars, deans of nursing programs, and NEF supporters. Working with the scholars, she shepherded them through their scholarship application process. Throughout Ms. Weiss' years as Executive Director, NEF scholarship applications, new permanent scholarships, and NEF Gala sponsorships increased significantly.

Before becoming Executive Director of NEF, Ms. Weiss served as an NEF Board Member from 2011 through 2015. Her nursing career began as a public health nurse, then a family nurse practitioner in California as one of a team of five health care providers who founded, developed, and provided primary family care in two migrant farm worker Family Health Centers in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1990, after moving to New York City, she became the director of the Columbia University School of Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner Program. She then became the first Director of Advanced Practice Nursing at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She went on to practice law as a medical malpractice defense attorney for McAloon and Friedman, PC, in Manhattan.

Ms. Weiss served as the Clinical Vice President of Executive Health Exams, Intl., a national for-profit comprehensive diagnostic screening service, where she was responsible for day-to-day clinical operations in the New York City Center, as well as the oversight of physicians, nurses, and support staff in the five health centers located in five different states. She was an administrative director, then in-house consultant for the NLNAC accreditation at the Cochran School of Nursing in Yonkers, New York. She created a health care consulting business and was the Project Health Care Consultant for the nonprofit American-Italian Cancer Foundation (AICF) in New York, where she produced a systems analysis of AICF's New York City, five-borough multiple mobile mammography services.

Learn more about Jerelyn Weiss at: n-e-f.org/jweiss

07/23/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Annmarie Muñana, DNP, MSN, MJ, RN

Dr. Muñana brings together her love of nursing and passion for education, law, and ethics to advance global nursing practice, shape policy, and influence regulatory oversight. Over the past decade, she has worked with national universities providing regulatory and accreditation leadership, oversight, and guidance for the undergraduate and graduate programs in nursing, public health, physician assistant, and social work. Since entering academia, she has held both dean and faculty roles, as well as national leadership roles.

This year, Dr. Muñana was appointed to the COVID-19 Monument Commission to establish the only national monument to honor and remember those affected by COVID-19. During the pandemic, she was a part of the Chicago Department of Public Health's COVID-19 Vaccine Work Group, charged with independently evaluating and advising the scientific and regulatory review of the FDA’s process for Emergency Use Authorization of COVID-19 vaccines. Annmarie has also served as a member of the American Nurses Association's Center for Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board.

Dr. Muñana was the recipient of the NEF's Philip D. Raso Scholarship for 2021-2022 to support her doctoral nursing education. Since that time, she has remained committed to the NEF mission by contributing to the scholarship funds and participating in the scholarship review process, ultimately joining the NEF Board in 2024.

Learn more about Dr. Muñana at: n-e-f.org/amunana

07/21/2026

Nurses Educational Funds is proud to present our 2026-2027 scholarship recipients. We have awarded scholarships to 34 professional nurses pursuing their master's and doctoral degrees in nursing education, practice, and research.

Visit n-e-f.org/scholars/winners to see the full list of recipients, and stay tuned to our socials, where we feature them individually during the academic year.

Congratulations, NEF Scholars!

07/20/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Betsy M. McDowell, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

After teaching nursing for 48 years, Dr. McDowell remains passionate about expanding the pool of available nursing faculty so more nurses can be educated and added to the workforce. Before joining the NEF board, she established an endowed award at two nursing schools. Recipients have demonstrated an outstanding ability to use the Neuman Systems Model, the conceptual framework for both nursing programs where she taught, and have the goal of becoming a nurse educator.

During her 36 years at Lander University, Dr. McDowell moved through the academic ranks, and as a full professor, became the chair of the nursing program. She retired from Lander in 2007 to become a professor of nursing and inaugural chair of the baccalaureate degree program at Newberry College until 2019. She is currently Treasurer and Immediate Past President of the Neuman Systems Model Trustees Group. In her retirement, Betsy remains active on committees, reviews abstracts for presentation and manuscripts for professional journals, publishes nursing literature, and mentors other nurses.

Dr. McDowell has received numerous recognitions over her career, including being named a fellow of the Academy of Nursing Education and the American Academy of Nursing. She received the Margaret S. Miles Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN) in 2023 for her outstanding leadership, participation, and contributions toward achieving the goals of SPN. She also received the Cockcroft Fellowship’s Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award from the USC College of Nursing in 2024.

Learn more about Dr. McDowell at: n-e-f.org/bmcdowell

07/16/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Nina Harvey, DNP, FNP-C

Dr. Harvey currently serves in a leadership role at the Jefferson County Department of Health in Birmingham, Alabama. There, she oversees daily operations in the Disease Control clinic area. She is also a faculty member of the Southeast STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. She has served as a delegate to the Alabama State Nurses Association and is the current president for the Mu Eta Chapter of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., a professional nursing organization.

Dr. Harvey is an experienced clinician and educator. She has served as both an Assistant Professor and Assistant Clinical Professor, mentoring nurses pursuing advanced education at the University of Alabama and Samford University. Her areas of expertise include advanced pathophysiology, population health, and public policy. Nina has served as a committee chair for Doctor of Nursing Practice students focusing on public and community health projects.

Learn more about Dr. Harvey at: n-e-f.org/nharvey

07/14/2026

Meet NEF Board Member Kimberly S. Glassman, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAONL, FAAN

Dr. Glassman is the Dean and Professor of the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, in New York City, and has spent 46 years in varied roles at New York University and NYU Langone Health.

Her current program of research focuses on nursing workforce issues, and she has published most recently on the topics of doctoral education, nurses’ experiences during the early stages of the pandemic, and post-licensure nurse residency programs.

She served most recently as the senior associate dean of academic affairs at the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, where she also held the rank of clinical professor. She was also the first nurse to serve as the chair of the New York University IRB. She held an endowed directorship as the first Lerner Director of Health promotion, the first nurse in the nation to hold such an honor.

Dr. Glassman was named as an inaugural Fellow of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders in 2019, and she recently completed a three-year term on the American Academy of Nursing Fellow Selection Committee.

Learn more about Dr. Glassman at: n-e-f.org/kglassman

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