Prof. Williams elected president of the Southern Gerontological Society
And then there were six.
Associate professor Ishan Williams - also the School of Nursing's new assistant dean for its Inclusion, Diversity & Excellence Achievement Initiative - was elected president of the Southern Gerontological Society at its annual conference.
Williams, who assumes the SGS presidency in July, 2019, for a year, through July, 2020, studies quality of life issues affecting older adults, their caregivers, with a particular focus on vulnerable and minority populations. Currently, she’s working in research examining dementia, disease management for elderly people with Type 2 diabetes, and the link between cognition and vascular problems among African-American adults.
Williams is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to aging), and was elected in 2018 to its board. She also serves on the AARP’s Public Policy Institute Roundtable and the Lindsay Institute’s Caregiving Advisory Council, and is associate editor for the Journal of Ethnicity & Health. At UVA where she teaches public policy to grad and undergrad nursing students, she also earned the 2016 Faculty Leadership Award from the School’s Alumni Association.
Williams' presidency brings to six the number of UVA Nursing faculty who have key roles in major nursing and health organizations at the state, regional, and national levels. UVA Nursing is also the academic home to:
- American Nurses Association president Pam Cipriano, who represents the voices of the nation's 3.4 million nurses
- American Association for the History of Nursing president Mary Gibson
- Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses immediate past-president Emily Drake
- American Association of Critical Care Nurses' immediate past-president Clareen Wiencek
- Virginia League for Nursing president-elect Tomeka Dowling, who assumes the presidency of the 125-year-old state constitutnet league in May, 2018.
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