Valerie Howard elected AACN Board Chair-Elect

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has announced the results of its 2026 election, naming Valerie Howard, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, dean and professor at the UNC School of Nursing, as chair-elect of the AACN Board of Directors. She was elected to a two-year term as chair-elect and will serve as AACN board chair from 2028 to 2030.

Howard’s career in nursing education includes leadership roles at Duke University and Robert Morris University. As president of the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning, she contributed to the development of the first standards for simulation best practices. She led the development of one of the first Simulation Learning Systems, which has been implemented in more than 400 nursing schools worldwide.

Beyond academia, Howard has served as director of the North Carolina Future of Nursing Action Coalition and on the steering committee of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force on the Future of the Nursing Workforce. She is an active leader within the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and serves on the Quality Subcommittee of UNC Hospitals and Academic Affairs, the North Carolina Council of Higher Education in Nursing and the North Carolina Nurses Association.

Within AACN, Howard has served as board member-at-large, board liaison to the Government Affairs Committee, member of the Program Committee, chair of the Doctoral Conference Subcommittee, state grassroots liaison, and both chair and co-chair of the Organizational Leadership Network.

Those elected to the AACN Board of Directors and Nominating Committee will begin their terms following the membership meeting at AACN’s Deans Annual Meeting on March 31, 2026.

Read the full announcement at aacnnursing.org.

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