SON associate dean receives academic leadership laurels

Published on Monday, July 12, 2021

ABNF honors SON associate dean for academic leadership excellence

The Association of Black Nursing Faculty has awarded Excellence in Academic Leadership honors to Dr. LaDonna Northington, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Nursing at UMMC.

Northington earned the recognition for her high levels of initiative, responsibility and resourcefulness in addressing challenges to the School of Nursing and for her mentoring of others to help them grow professionally.

“For almost 10 years, Dr. Northington has been recognized with awards of excellence,” said Dr. Kay Edwards, chair of the ABNF Awards Committee. “She demonstrates a passion for excellence and strategic thinking.

“Dr. Northington is guided by values of fairness and doing the right thing by students, staff and faculty.”

Northington’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was noted in her award, Edwards said.

“Dr. Northington led her academic team to make a quick transition to online delivery of courses when students were removed from their clinical practicum rotations,” she said. “The outcome of her strategic thinking led to a pass rate for first-time test takers of the NCLEX-RN licensure examinations significantly higher than the national average pass rate for 2020 graduates.”

Fellow faculty describe Northington as a tireless worker who models the way to success, said Dr. Julie Sanford, School of Nursing dean.

“Dr. Northington has dedicated her career to nursing excellence, and it shows, not only in her performance as an academic leader, but also in the quality of our nursing students and graduates,” Sanford said. “She is very deserving of this award from the ABNF.”