Dean Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, who transformed the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) into one of the top nursing schools in the nation, has been named guest speaker for the May 23 Diploma & Award Ceremony. 

Hill, an alumnus of Hopkins Nursing when it was still part of Johns Hopkins Hospital, has led JHUSON since July 2001 and has been a member of the faculty since the School was established as a separate entity in 1983. As an educator, she is known for her mentorship of students and junior faculty members; as a researcher, for her investigations into preventing and treating hypertension and its complications, particularly among urban African-American men. From 1997-1998, Hill served as president of the American Heart Association, the first non-physician to be named to that position.

During Hill’s tenure, research funding at the school has increased by more than 440 percent. In 2011 and 2012, the school’s graduate programs were ranked best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

She will conclude her service as dean at the end of the 2012-13 academic year, but Hill will remain a member of the JHUSON faculty as she returns to her groundbreaking research.

The Diploma and Award Ceremony will be at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center Hippodrome Theatre, 13 North Eutaw St., Baltimore.

To read more about Dean Hill and her accomplishments, go to nursing.jhu.edu/onwardhill.