Martha A. Dawson
Dr. Martha A. Dawson is nationally and internationally recognized as a global thought leader in the field of nursing and health systems administration. She is an associate professor in the School of Nursing at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UABSON), and has been an influential and inspiring leader in practice, education, translational research and leadership. During her tenure as the Nursing and Health Systems Administration Specialty Track Coordinator at UABSON, she has inspired students to seek higher education and has actively broadened students’ interest in the discipline of nursing and health administration. Due to her tremendous work and curriculum revision, the NHSA specialty has been recognized in the top 10 programs nationally for the last 10 years.
Dr. Dawson is a published author and was recognized by Sigma Theta Tau in 2010 as one of the 10 national leaders to be included in the inaugural book The Power of Ten: Nurse Leaders Address the Profession’s Ten Most Pressing Issues. Her scholarly work looking at charge nurses’ perceptions of career mobility barriers provided valuable evidence for succession planning in nursing leadership and was presented as the inaugural administrative research and evidence-based practice project at the American Organization of Nurse Executives (Leaders).
Dr. Dawson is a Scholar in the Sparkman Global Health Center at UAB, Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow, and Johnson & Johnson Wharton Nurse Administrative Fellow. She has won many awards, which include American Organization of Nurse Executives Prism Award for Diversity, President’s Teaching Excellence Award, Graduate Dean’s Mentorship Award, Madeline R. Zaworski Award for Outstanding Leadership, and the Lillian Holland Harvey Award.
In 2004, a mayoral proclamation declared Dr. Dawson a Distinguished Citizen of Louisville, Ky., where she served on many appointed volunteer boards and participated in community research assessment projects that led to the Kentucky Women 4 Women statewide health initiative.
Dr. Dawson is devoted to developing and mentoring the next generation of healthcare leaders. Serving as the 13th president of the National Black Nurses Association, Dr. Dawson is committed to increasing diversity in nursing. Her leadership influence expands from the bedside to the boardroom with a personal touch that inspires others to be their best.
Dr. Dawson would like to thank her mother Lillie and her father Simon; Shirley and Wallace Sailem; Alex, Roman and Nikolas Barnes; Dr. Kathleen Ladner; Dr. Carol Ratcliffe; Deborah Thedford-Zimmerman; and Dr. Eric Williams.