Susan B. Hassmiller, senior adviser for nursing for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a graduate of Broward College, has been named recipient of the Florida Association of Community Colleges’ Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the three LeRoy Collins Distinguished Community College Alumni Awards presented annually.
Hassmiller and the names of the other two Collins recipients were announced October 1. Their awards will be presented November 19 at the FACC’s 60th annual convention in Orlando.
The other honorees are the Rising Star Award recipient, Ryan Blanco, from St. John’s River Community College and Against the Odds Award winner, Melinda Thackrah, of St. Petersburg College.
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Susan B. Hassmiller
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A native of southern Broward County, Hassmiller began her life’s journey in nursing at what was then Broward Community College. Graduating with an Associate of Science in Nursing degree in 1974, Hassmiller said she received the best education in basic nursing there, and credits the school with instilling in her the importance of giving back to her community. When asked about her instructors at Broward, Hassmiller, said “they absolutely inspired me to go on.”
“Dr. Hassmiller has never forgotten where she gained her roots in the profession of nursing,” wrote Broward College President J. David Armstrong, Jr., in Hassmiller’s Collins Award nomination.
Hassmiller, a resident of Princeton Junction, N.J., went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing and master’s degree in health education from Florida State University. She earned a second master’s degree in community health nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and earned a Ph.D. in nursing administration and health policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
In her current position as senior adviser for nursing and director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine, she was drawn to the foundation’s organizational advocacy for the less fortunate and underserved. At the foundation, she leads the initiative to identify solutions for nursing in the areas of recruitment, education, retention, new technologies and the delivery of nursing services in a variety of care settings.
A volunteer with the American Red Cross since college, Hassmiller has been involved in disaster relief efforts in the United States and abroad. She was in the Midwest after tornadoes have struck, in South Florida following Hurricane Andrew, in New York after the September 11th Twin Towers tragedy, and in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami. She serves as senior adviser to the American Red Cross on nursing and disaster programming, and is the chair of its National 9/11 Oversight Commission.
This summer, she was named recipient of the International Committees of the Red Cross’ Florence Nightingale Medal, nursing’s highest international honor. On October 3 she was presented the Broward College Foundation’s 2009 Distinguished Alumni award at the Second Annual Tripp Scott Lyceum Awards. The honor recognizes graduates of Broward College who have demonstrated significant contributions in the areas of professional, civic or public life.
Speaking of the importance and role of community colleges in nursing, Hassmiller said “Up to 70 percent of nurses in this country come from community colleges”. She says colleagues often try to persuade her of the value of community college trained nurses and “I tell them I started out at Broward Community College; you don’t need to convince me of the importance of community college trained nurses.”
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