90 Outstanding Yale Nurses Recipient
Class of 1975
Judy Beal has been a leader in nursing education since 1978, most recently as Professor and Dean of the College of Natural, Behavioral, and Health Sciences and the Chief Academic Nursing Officer in the School of Nursing at Simmons University until her retirement in 2019.
She is most proud of having educated thousands of nursing students at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels and having led a nursing program that is renowned for excellence. Judy Beal has served in multiple leadership roles in state, national, and international professional nursing associates including two terms on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing as secretary and then Chair-Elect.
As a RWJ Executive Nurse Fellow, Judy Beal has created a national forum on academic-practice partnerships which led to the recognition that these partnerships position nursing to change and advance health. Judy Beal has written extensively on this issues and has led three AACN-AONE/AONL task forces/committees. Her well funded program of research focuses on the development of a model of clinical nurse scholars.
Currently, Judy Beal is consulting and continuing to publish and serve on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing and a peer reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, the Journal of Professional Nursing, Nursing Outlook and Research in Nursing and Health.