Male alumni leading the profession

Larry Hornsby

Larry Hornsby, BSN, CRNA is a BSN 1981 and BS (Anesthesia) 1995 graduate of UAB. He is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Diversified Professionals, Inc. Prior to this role, he served as the Senior Vice President of Operations and Vice-Chief Anesthetist Officer for NorthStar Anesthesia. Mr. Hornsby has served in various leadership positions in the Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists (ALANA), including two terms as President. On the national level, he has served as Regional Director, Treasurer, Vice President, and President of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).

Hornsby remains highly involved in the AANA, having chaired various advisory boards and committees such as the AANA Commission on Anesthesia Economics and Reimbursement, Government Relations Committee, and Anesthesia Payment Advisory Panel. In 2010, he was named a UAB School of Nursing Visionary Leader. In 2013, Mr. Hornsby received the Agatha Hodgins Award for Outstanding Accomplishment from the AANA — the highest honor bestowed by the organization. He was named the UAB School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 2016 and received the ALANA Distinguished Service Award in 2019.

Blake Smith

Alumnus Blake Smith, MSN, RN, is a Clinical Documentation Senior Analyst for Nebraska Medicine as well as President of the American Association for Men in Nursing. Smith earned his Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nursing Health Systems Administration from UAB in 2017. He received the 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Award and was a senator for the Nursing Graduate Student Association during his time as a graduate student.

In addition to his national leadership in men’s health awareness and advocacy and male inclusion in the nursing profession, Smith serves on the Nebraska Action Coalition’s Diversity Task Force and Leadership Committee. He was also the first chair of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) National Scholar Network Steering Committee. He also helps lead nationally with RWJF, AARP, and Center to Champion Nursing on the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Committee (EDISC).

John Doriety

John Doriety, RN, BSN, CCRN, is a BSN 1998 graduate of the UAB School of Nursing. He worked several years in emergency and trauma nursing before entering medical transport.

He is a flight nurse with UAB Critical Care Transport (UAB CCT). The UAB CCT is a program that transports patients with significant medical issues requiring transfer between hospitals and is made up of air and ground vehicles with the same equipment as a hospital intensive care unit – the CCT has carried out more than 47,000 medical transports, covering 42 million miles, 46 states, and 38 countries. In his 17 years with UAB CCT, he has participated in more than 2,800 transports.

Rhigel Tan

Rhigel Tan, DNP, RN, APRN, GNP, ANP, PMHNP, earned his Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from the UAB School of Nursing in 2010.

Tan is an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and actively practices as a nurse practitioner specializing in mental health and psychiatry, as well as in behavioral health and wellness in his standalone clinic in Las Vegas, iCarePsychiatry. He is the first Filipino American to be elected president of the Nevada State Board of Nursing and is an advocate for personalized medicine, which uses pharmacogenetics to match ideal medications to individual patients.

In 2019, Tan was among the 231 highly distinguished nurse leaders who have been chosen to be part of the 2019 class of Academy fellows.