Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Professor Bonnielin Swenor, PhD, MPH, BS, also founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, has been named the inaugural Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice.
“Dr. Bonnielin Swenor is an incredible researcher, scientist, and educator with an unrelenting drive to ensure that people with disabilities are able to thrive,” says JHSON Dean Sarah Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Her installation as an endowed chair formally acknowledges the impact her career has made, and our trust in all there is to come.”
“Dr. Swenor and the Center are committed to training the next generation of disability equity researchers, including researchers with disabilities,” says Jermaine Monk PhD, MSW, MS Mgmt, MA Th, MA, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. “That is so important to build into nursing education as we prepare the next generation of nurses.”
The chair was funded by the estates of Ms. Charlotte B. Lockner, School of Nursing alumna from the Class of 1955; Mr. Ralph S. O’Connor, University Trustee and Krieger School of Arts and Sciences alumnae from the class of 1951; and Antoinette Delruelle and Joshua L. Steiner, along with The Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund Authority.
Today more than 27 percent of American adults have a disability, and yet people with disabilities still face many barriers to health, equity, and inclusion.
With that in mind, the Endowed Professorship of Disability Health and Justice was established to push scientific discovery and develop innovative, evidence-based strategies to foster inclusion of people with disabilities into the workforce.
Dr. Swenor founded and directs the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, which is home to experts across disciples who test and collaborate on data-driven approaches to reduce disability inequity. It officially moved to the School of Nursing in 2022 when Dr. Swenor joined the faculty. The professorship will fund Dr. Swenor and the Center to develop novel tools that inform policy and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies into new disability health tools.
“I am honored to be the inaugural Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice,” says Dr. Swenor. “We aim to shift the paradigm from ‘living with a disability’ to ‘thriving with a disability’ and maximize the health, equity, and participation of people with disabilities.”
Through this endowed chair, Dr. Swenor and the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center will have significant impact on our ability to build up activism and visibility in the disability community.
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Located in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a globally-recognized leader in nursing education, research, and practice. In U.S. News & World Report rankings, the school is No. 1 nationally for its DNP program and No. 2 for its master’s. In addition, JHSON is ranked as the No. 3 nursing school in the world by QS World University. The school is a five-time recipient of the INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award and a four-time Best School for Men in Nursing award recipient. For more information, visit www.nursing.jhu.edu.
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