New Funding for Part-Time Nursing Faculty

Ann O'Sullivan, PhD, FAAN, CRNPDr. O’Sullivan, who transitioned from standing faculty at Penn Nursing in June 2021, is a nationally and internationally regarded scholar whose work on adolescent pregnancy has helped to shape policies and practices to support teen mothers and delay subsequent pregnancies. She served an incredible 48 years at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Nursing, and her roles included leadership of the Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs at Penn Nursing, as well as head of the Psychiatric Mental Health program. She also had an appointment as the Dr. Hildegarde Reynolds Endowed Term Professor of Primary Care Nursing. Under her leadership, Penn Nursing’s Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) program was ranked #1 in the country for six consecutive years, and her exemplary teaching was recognized with the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2000, among her many accomplishments, both professionally and personally. Dr. O’Sullivan continues to mentor and support of Penn Nursing’s Doctorate of Nursing Practice students.

The Ann L O’Sullivan Primary Care Faculty Development Fund launched in October 2021, thanks to Victoria Weill, MSN, CRNP, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (NP). Weill worked with Dr. O’Sullivan in Penn Nursing’s PNP program (Weill was faculty at the School for more than 36 years and served as Track director of the PNP program) and Dr. O’Sullivan’s Teen Baby Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Says Weill, “Ann L. O’Sullivan has devoted her life to the service of Penn, the School of Nursing, and to the advancement of the role of nurse practitioners nationally. Her dedication created more than a generation of nurse practitioner leaders who have impacted primary care throughout the country. The pandemic made it hard to adequately celebrate her achievements. The faculty enrichment fund was created as a small way of honoring her legacy. I am delighted to help recognize her lifetime of nursing achievement.”

The Ann L O’Sullivan Primary Care Faculty Development Fund received 44 generous donations from Dr. O’Sullivan’s past students and those she mentored, as well as her colleagues. Donors speak of her patience, leadership, and generosity, as well as her incredible impact on the next generation of nursing leaders. The Fund will benefit part-time Primary Care NP faculty by offsetting the cost of conference registrations, membership fees, course fees, and funding for their professional enrichment activities.

Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, says, “Penn Nursing is known for its exceptional faculty—they are nursing leaders in every sense of the word. It is gratifying to see colleagues and former students honoring faculty in such special ways—especially someone like Ann O’Sullivan, who has made, and continues to make, such a lasting impact in the Penn community, in the profession, and—importantly—for children and families.”

For more information about establishing a fund to honor faculty, please contact Nadina R. Deigh, Vice Dean for Institutional Advancement.