Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing
Maria Rodriguez Shirey, PhD, MBA, MS, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN
Maria Rodriguez Shirey, PhD, MBA, MS, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN, is Dean, Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing and Director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for International Nursing. Prior to becoming Dean, Shirey was the School’s Associate Dean for Clinical and Global Partnerships and inaugural holder of the Jane H. Brock—Florence Nightingale Endowed Professorship in Nursing. She also previously chaired the Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care. Shirey, who is board certified in advanced nursing executive practice and health care management, is an internationally recognized nurse scholar in leadership science and health services outcomes research, as well as an expert in sustainable interprofessional collaborative practice models advancing access to care for urban and rural vulnerable populations with chronic diseases. She was recognized in 2019 for her career contributions to advancing leadership and health systems science with the American Organization for Nursing Leadership Nurse Researcher Award. Her collaborative leadership work also has been recognized. In 2018, the UAB Nursing Partnership, between the School and UAB Health System, received the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s New Era for Academic Nursing Award and in 2020 two of the interprofessional collaborative practices with UAB Medicine received the Creativity in Practice and Education Award from the National Academies of Practice.
Marie O’Koren Endowed Chair in Nursing
Ellen M. Lavoie Smith, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN
Dr. Ellen Smith, Assistant Dean for Research and Scholarship, joined the UAB faculty in 2021 and is internationally recognized for her revolutionary research in identifying non-opioid therapy for the life-altering complication of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, for which there is no known cure. She was the principal investigator for a National Cancer Institute-funded multi-site randomized placebo-controlled trial to test duloxetine as a treatment and, as a result of her work, it is now the only treatment recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Rachel Z. Booth Endowed Chair in Nursing
Patricia A. Patrician, PhD, RN, FAAN, Colonel, US Army (Retired)
Dr. Patricia Patrician joined the UAB faculty in August 2008 after having served 26 years in the US Army Nurse Corps, where she held clinical, administrative, educational, and research positions. Her final position prior to military retirement was Chief, Department of Nursing Science, Academy of Health Sciences, Ft. Sam Houston (San Antonio), TX. At UAB, she teaches in the Nursing and Health Systems Administration and PhD Programs.
Donna Brown Banton Endowed Professorship in Nursing
Suzie Miltner, PhD, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, FAAN
Dr. Suzie Miltner joined UAB in 2012. She has extensive clinical and leadership experience in military, private and Veteran Affairs acute care settings as well as experience in nursing education in both academic and organizational settings. Likewise, her ongoing leadership as a faculty in the VA Quality Scholars Program, as a Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Institute Board Member, and co-leader of the Deep South QSEN Regional Collaborative at UAB, an initiative to train nurse educators, practicing nurses and nurse leaders on the importance of instilling quality and safety values within the nursing and health care workforce, make her well suited for this position.
