Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Announce 2026 Award Recipients

Media Contact: Bryan Black

Distinguished leaders and innovators will be honored for their contributions to the nurse practitioner role.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is pleased to announce that the Executive Committee of the Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) has named the recipients of the 2026 Loretta C. Ford Award, FAANP Legacy Award and Honorary Fellow. The FAANP program was established in 2000 to recognize nurse practitioner (NP) leaders who exemplify the values of their profession through research, practice and advocacy.

“On behalf of AANP, I would like to congratulate the exemplary NPs who are being honored with awards this year,” said AANP President Valerie J. Fuller, PhD, DNP. “The recipients of the 2026 awards have thrived as clinicians, academics, mentors and more. We look to them for inspiration as we continue serving our communities and patients.”

2026 Loretta C. Ford Award for Advancement of the Nurse Practitioner Role in Health Care

Named for the co-founder of the NP role, Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, NP-C, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, this award is presented annually to an NP who demonstrates participation in health care policy development at an international, national or local level; sustained and specific contribution to the clarification of the role and scope of practice of NPs; or creative and effective action that turns a challenge to the NP role into an effective opportunity to advance practice and improve patient outcomes. The 2026 Loretta C. Ford Awardee for Advancement of the Nurse Practitioner Role in Health Care is:

Jamesetta A. Newland, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, DPNAP, FNYAM, FAAN, CGNC, FADLN

Dr. Newland — clinical professor emerita at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing — is a family NP with clinical practice for 36 years, primarily in nurse-managed health centers (NMHCs), holding positions of direct care, administration and consulting to other academic nursing schools. During her academic career, she served as an instructor, advisor and clinical preceptor. She is a Certified Global Nurse Consultant through the International Council of Nurses and Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools. Considered an expert in nurse practitioner (NP) education and practice, she has provided expert consultation to NP programs in Botswana, China, Japan and Lithuania and instrumental in establishing NP master's programs in both Japan and Lithuania. She was instrumental in establishing the first NP programs in Japan and Lithuania, both as master’s degrees. She remains PI of NYU Meyers’ Advanced Nursing Practice Project in Lithuania, reflecting 13 years of cooperation.

Dr Newlan is the author of numerous scholarly publications and is Editor Emeritus of The Nurse Practitioner Journal — having served as its editor-in-chief for more than 20 years. As a co-editor, the textbook Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health: A Resource for Advanced Psychiatric and Primary Care Practitioners in Nursing won a 2021 AJN Book of the Year award. Her work in practice, academia and the community is widely recognized and has been duly honored, most recently with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

Dr. Newland is a Fellow of AANP; the American Academy of Nursing; the National Academies of Practice; the New York Academy of Medicine; and the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (National Black Nurses Association). Although retired, she remains a lifelong learner and continues to participate in professional activities, including the NY State Board of Nursing. Through ongoing mentorship, she guides future nurse leaders who are driven to address social injustice and health disparities to improve the human condition.

2026 Legacy Award

The FAANP Legacy Award honors, recognizes and memorializes a member of FAANP whose lifelong career has had a profound and enduring impact on the profession and the NP role, articulating a dream that others share and follow. The vision, innovation, courage, persistence and inspiration of the honoree are essential components of the legacy. The 2026 FAANP Legacy Awardee is:

Joan M. Stanley, PhD, NP, FAANP, FAAN

Dr. Stanley’s 55-year career spans clinical practice, health policy, national consensus building and academic leadership, shaping how NPs are educated, regulated and practice. After earning her BSN from Duke University in 1971, she completed an adult primary care NP certificate at the University of Maryland in 1974, becoming one of the first adult NPs in the United States. She earned an MS in nursing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in 1978, and a PhD in higher education policy and organization from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1990. From 1972 to 2018, Dr. Stanley maintained a primary care practice within the University of Maryland Health System and served on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Nursing from 1978 to 1982.

Dr. Stanley’s influence on advanced practice nursing is extensive. In 1974, she helped establish the Maryland Nurse Practitioner Council, a precursor to the Nurse Practitioner Association of Maryland. She led efforts that resulted in Maryland becoming the first state to authorize private insurance reimbursement for NP services and to grant NPs authority to diagnose and prescribe with minimal physician oversight. Her leadership was central to development of the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation, aligning licensure, accreditation, certification and education, and she facilitated the APRN LACE Network and the National Task Force for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education.

During her 34-year tenure at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Dr. Stanley led development of APRN education policy, including the Essentials and Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Competencies across adult, family, gerontological, pediatric and women’s health populations. She has authored numerous publications and served as editor of NP News and NP World News. Her book, Advanced Practice Nursing: Emphasizing Common Roles (2nd ed.), received the 2005 American Journal of Nursing Advanced Practice Book of the Year Award. Her honors include fellowships in the American Academy of Nursing and AANP; multiple citations from federal agencies and state legislatures; an honorary doctorate from SUNY Downstate Medical Center; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

2026 Honorary Fellow

The Honorary Fellow is a non-NP who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in at least one of the following areas of importance to NPs: Practice, education, policy and research. The 2026 FAANP Honorary Fellow is:

George A. Zangaro PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. George Zangaro, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and associate director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice post-master’s programs at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Previously, he was the chief policy and scientific officer at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. He served as dean in the College of Nursing at Walden University, serving over 16,000 students. He formerly served as the director of the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in the Bureau of Health Workforce at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), leading a group of scientists forecasting the supply and demand projections for health professionals. He also served as the director of the Office of Performance Measurement in the Bureau of Health Professions at HRSA, where he led the development, implementation and analysis of performance measures across more than 40 different activities.

Dr. Zangaro was previously an associate professor and director of nursing research at The Catholic University of America. He also served as the program director for the Health Services Leadership and Management Program in the school of nursing at the University of Maryland Baltimore. He received his bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia Union College and his master’s and doctorate in nursing from the University of Maryland Baltimore. Dr. Zangaro’s major career focus has been on the development of the nursing workforce to specifically address the areas of recruitment, retention and educational development of nurses. Dr. Zangaro has served as a principal investigator, associate investigator and consultant on several funded research studies. He is an experienced researcher and educator with several years of clinical experience, expertise in systematic reviews and meta-analysis. In 2007, Dr. Zangaro retired from the Navy after 25 years of service.

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The American Association of Nurse Practitioners^® (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization representing the 461,000 licensed nurse practitioners (NPs) in the United States. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP advances health policy and promotes excellence in practice, education and research to support high-quality, patient-centered care. Learn more at aanp.org.