Two Purdue Nursing faculty members receive American Academy of Nursing Fellow honors

Written By: Rebecca Hoffa, rhoffa@purdue.edu

Libby Richards (left) and Vicki Simpson (right)(Purdue University Photos/Tim Brouk)

Through extraordinary contributions that are advancing local and global health, American Academy of Nursing (AAN) Fellows are some of the most accomplished leaders in the nursing field.

Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences faculty members Libby Richards and Vicki Simpson are the latest to join the elite group of School of Nursing faculty members to be inducted into the rigorous and competitive society. The two will be honored at the AAN’s 2024 Health Policy Conference Induction Ceremony and Soiree on Nov. 2 in Washington, D.C.

Libby Richards

Recently promoted to full professor, Richards has been with the School of Nursing since she started at Purdue in 2006 as a clinical assistant professor. Over the past 18 years, she has taken on a variety of leadership roles within the school, from spearheading a new BS to PhD nursing program to serving as a leader in the development of a new, innovative building for nursing students.

For Richards, being inducted as a fellow is a dream come true.

“To be inducted as a fellow, you need to impact the field of nursing over and above what you do in your job,” Richards said. “I was very fortunate to have some colleagues see something in me that I didn’t see in myself yet and encourage me to go through this process. I’m very grateful they did that. Without colleagues like that, we will never really keep moving our profession forward.”

One such way Richards has worked to advance herself as a leader and drive the nursing field forward is through her work on the Nursing and Pharmacy Education Building, which will address critical workforce needs and expand interprofessional education opportunities. Selected to serve as the Nursing faculty representative on the development of the new building, Richards helped shepherd the concept from an initial idea to a funded venture in 2023. 

“I think a very important part of leadership is being able to connect with those that you are working with, to make others feel heard and to create an environment of buy-in of the project overall, and I think because of my ability to do that, we are creating a very successful Nursing and Pharmacy Education Building,” Richards said.

Richards has also had an influence through her research, which focuses on health behavior change, physical activity behavior and community-based interventions. One such impact was the development of a physical activity program Get WalkIN’, which resulted from a collaboration with Purdue Extension.

“I never would have imagined that I would have been so passionate about research until I started seeing the impact that the work I was doing had on people,” Richards said. “I’ve helped people increase their physical activity. I’ve helped people get off their medications, lose weight and reduce symptoms of their chronic diseases, and that’s what I sought out to do from the very first job that I had (in health care).”

Inside the classroom, Richards leaves a lasting impression on each of her nursing students, having been inducted into Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers, one of the highest teaching honors at the university, in fall 2023. Richards was also inducted as a National League for Nursing Fellow, which focuses on significant achievement as a nursing educator, in 2023. One of Richards’ favorite parts of being a faculty member at Purdue is her work with her students.

“I look at my job as a faculty member as an opportunity to touch literally hundreds of future nurses, and so if I can help them see the importance of advocating for their patients, community and public health, I know that our profession and our communities will continue to get better and better,” Richards said.

Vicki Simpson

Simpson, who is interim associate head of the School of Nursing, has been in the nursing profession for more than 40 years, during which time she has made lasting contributions to the field across research, teaching and more. For Simpson, the fellowship is not just a reflection of her accomplishments but the support of her many collaborators, colleagues and mentors throughout the years.

“Most of what I’ve done I couldn’t have done without all of the people who are there to walk alongside me and collaborate with me, and I truly wouldn’t have gotten this award without all of those people,” Simpson said.

In addition to the American Academy of Nursing fellowship, Simpson was also selected as a 2024 National League for Nursing Fellow for her accomplishments in nursing education.

Having led the School of Nursing alongside interim school head Nancy Edwards for the last year and a half, Simpson noted the interim associate head position has allowed her to advance her leadership skills while creating a positive, rewarding environment for faculty, staff and students.

“What Nancy and I have been able to achieve is to create some consistency and let our faculty know that we’re here to support them,” Simpson said.

In the field, Simpson’s research has focused on well-being and resilience for nursing professionals, individuals and communities. In this work, she has developed long-term relationships with many Indiana counties, making strides in improving the health of people living in these communities. Simpson is particularly proud of the work she’s collaborated on in Clinton County with its health coalition, which has been the focus of multiple research grants.

“My work, after working with Clinton County for so long, started to focus on how we build community networks that work well together, instead of duplicating services, competing for resources and overlapping,” Simpson said. “The last couple of years, I’ve been involved with a HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration)- funded project in Jay and Blackford counties, where we’ve worked to build a stronger community network to address substance use prevention, treatment and recovery. We’ve seen a lot of success there.

“I love working with people in communities. There are so many dedicated people out there, ensuring these things are getting done, and without that, it wouldn’t happen.”

Like Richards, of all her accomplishments, Simpson takes the most pride in the shaping the next generation of exceptional nursing leaders.

“I think we all have a lot of pride in the Purdue University School of Nursing and in the students that we graduate,” Simpson said. “Our students are well-respected across the U.S., and they go out and make a difference. I think we work very hard to ensure our students aren’t just happy with the status quo, that they’re going to go out there and say, ‘This is what I can do to make the system better,’ and I do think those are the graduates that we send into the profession.”