Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, Faan

Joanne Disch has held senior leadership roles in almost every type of national organization, including as chief nurse executive, interim dean, president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the American Academy of Nursing, and board member and chair of the national board of AARP. She has served on four health system boards, including as inaugural chair of Advocate Aurora Health. Currently she is chair of the Board of Trustees of Chamberlain University. Disch served on the...See more

Joanne Disch has held senior leadership roles in almost every type of national organization, including as chief nurse executive, interim dean, president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the American Academy of Nursing, and board member and chair of the national board of AARP. She has served on four health system boards, including as inaugural chair of Advocate Aurora Health. Currently she is chair of the Board of Trustees of Chamberlain University. Disch served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and from 2000-2012, she was the Director of the Katharine J Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership. During that time, she launched the DNP in Health Innovation & Leadership. Disch was an original leader of the QSEN (Quality and Safety Education for Nursing) initiative, and has received several awards for her work, including recognition as a Living Legend from the Academy; distinguished alumna awards from the schools of nursing at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Michigan; and the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Wisconsin. See less