Ada Sue Hinshaw, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan.  She was appointed Dean of the School of Nursing on July 1, 1994 and “stepped out” of the position the end of June, 2006.

Before joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Hinshaw was the first permanent Director of the National Center of Nursing Research and the first Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Hinshaw led the Institute in its support of valuable research and research training in many areas of nursing science, such as disease prevention, health promotion, acute and chronic illness and the environments that enhance nursing care patient outcomes.  From 1975 to 1987, Dr. Hinshaw served as Director of Research and Professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing and Director of Nursing Research at the University Medical Center’s Department of Nursing.  She has also held positions at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Kansas.

Throughout her career Dr. Hinshaw has conducted nursing research, focusing on quality of care, patient outcomes, measurement of such outcomes and building positive work environments for nurses because of the impact on patient safety.  She has given hundreds of presentations and her findings have been widely published in numerous articles and books.  In addition, she has served on numerous scientific advisory committees and task forces and has been a Visiting Professor at various Schools of Nursing.

Dr. Hinshaw has received many awards and honorary doctorates, including the Midwest Nursing Research Society Lifetime Achievement Award, Health Leader of the Year Award from the United States Public Health Service, the Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Nursing Research from Sigma Theta Tau and the Nurse Scientist of the Year Award from the American Nurses’ Association, Council of Nurse Researchers.  She has also received thirteen honorary degrees from universities in the United States and Canada. She is the Past-President of the American Academy of Nursing.  Dr. Hinshaw is a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a past member of the IOM Council.  Recently, she was Vice-Chair of the IOM’s report on “Keeping Patient’s Safe:  Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses” and Chair of the Subcommittee for nurse research training in the National Research Council’s report on “Advancing the Nation’s Health Needs: NIH Research Training Programs“.  In October, 2006, she received the Walsh McDermott Award from the IOM.

Dr. Hinshaw received her PhD and MA in Sociology from the University of Arizona, an MSN from Yale University and a BS from the University of Kansas.