Yale School of Nursing (YSN) is pleased to announce the appointment of Loretta J. Ross as visiting associate professor for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Professor Ross is a reproductive justice and human rights activist who has reframed reproductive rights within the broader context of human rights. A 2022 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, she currently serves as an associate professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College. She is a pioneer and proponent of “calling in,” a tool and practice for turning difficult conversations into productive discussions. This framework helps address harm while creating space for growth, forgiveness, and understanding.
“I know you will find Professor Ross to be a source of inspiration, energy, enthusiasm, wisdom, and knowledge,” Dean Azita Emami, PhD, MSN, BSN, RNT, RN, FAAN said. “During her year at Yale, Professor Ross will work closely with the YSN Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, the Office of Student Life, faculty across the school, and other strategic partners to bring about transformative changes and help the school remain a leader in advancing the profession’s goal of equitable and appropriate health care for all. Please join me in welcoming her!”
Professor Ross started her career in activism and social change in the 1970s, working at the National Football League Players’ Association, the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Black Women’s Health Project, the Center for Democratic Renewal (National Anti-Klan Network), the National Center for Human Rights Education, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, until retiring as an organizer in 2012 to teach about activism. She is a graduate of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.
“I look forward to engaging with the Yale School of Nursing community,” Professor Ross said. “As practitioners in the field of healthcare, as the future of the nation’s most trusted profession, and as the next generation of nurse and midwifery leaders, you are uniquely positioned to make forward progress on reproductive rights and human rights, now and in the future.”
Professor Ross will be presenting guest lectures and seminars, mentoring students, providing training for faculty that enhances their understanding on best practices for defining and implementing an inclusive, respectful work and learning environment, and working with the YSN faculty to design curriculum modules on human rights and social justice.