School Notes: School of Nursing
July/August 2025

YSN celebrates 99th commencement with 139 graduates

YSN celebrated its 99th commencement ceremony with a keynote address by Dr. Richard E. Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Degrees and certificates were awarded to 139 graduates, including 12 clinical doctor of nursing practice degrees; 20 doctor of nursing practice degrees in healthcare systems, leadership, and policy; 106 master of science in nursing degrees; and 1 post-master’s certificate in pediatric acute care. 

Alumni receive distinguished awards

YSN celebrated the achievements of its alumni by bestowing two prestigious awards at its Distinguished Alumni and Commencement Awards Reception. The Decade Award went to Stephan Davis ’16DNP, inaugural executive director of leadership, policy, and doctor of nursing practice education at Georgetown University School of Nursing; and the Distinguished Alumni Award was awarded to Allison Squires ’07PhD, professor at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing and director of the Global Consortium of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, a research group spanning 82 countries. 

Artificial intelligence meets nursing

On May 9, Christine Rodriguez and the YSN Simulation Center presented at this year’s Envisioning AI at Yale symposium. The presentation, Artificial Intelligence Meets Healthcare Simulation, featured Gwen—a hyperrealisticmanikin exhibiting Down syndrome in children and used in clinical training.