Professor Emerita Receives Excellence Award for Book
Margarete L. Zalon, Ph.D., professor emerita in the Department of Nursing at The University of Scranton, received the Sigma Theta Tau 2023 Capstone International Nursing Book Award for Nursing Excellence for the third edition of her book “Nurses Making Policy: From Bedside to Boardroom.”The book, “Nurses making policy from bedside to boardroom (3rd ed.),” co-edited by Margarete L. Zalon, Ph.D., professor emerita in the Department of Nursing at The University of Scranton, received the Sigma Theta Tau 2023 Capstone International Nursing Book Award for Nursing Excellence.
Sigma Theta Tau (Sigma) is the International Honor Society of Nursing. Their International Awards for Nursing Excellence reflect the organization’s dedication to fostering high professional nursing standards, recognizing superior achievement, developing leadership and encouraging creative work. The awards were announced at Sigma’s 47th Biennial Convention, which was held November 11-15 in San Antonio, Texas.
In addition, Dr. Zalon received a 2022 American Journal of Nursing (AJN) Book of the Year Award for the book, which placed 2nd in the program’s Nursing Management and Leadership category. Dr. Zalon also received a 2019 AJN Book of the Year Award for the second edition of this book in 2019.
Earlier this year, Dr. Zalon was appointed as a consumer representative to the Pennsylvania e-Health Partnership Advisory Board.
Dr. Zalon, who retired in 2022, has been a member of Scranton’s faculty since 1988. She was inducted as an American Academy of Nursing Fellow in 2010 in part for her positive influence on health care policy and delivery. Her leadership legacy includes grassroots advocacy, progressive program design, execution and outcomes in state and national nursing organizations focused on establishing practice and education policy and building research funding capacity.
During her more than three decades of service at the University, Dr. Zalon has served on numerous committees, including in leadership roles on the Faculty Senate. When she served as director of the University’s online Master of Science in Health Informatics Program, she has played a pivotal role in the program’s success. In 2021, the graduate program received accreditation from the prestigious Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
Dr. Zalon is a previous chair of the American Nurses Foundation, a former board member of the American Nurses Association and a past president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association. She currently serves as the president of the Nursing Foundation of Pennsylvania, the charitable arm of PSNA which focuses on providing scholarships to students enrolled in nursing programs.
Her research focuses on vulnerable elders. She has authored book chapters, as well as articles published in numerous scholarly journals and other professional publications. She has also made research and health policy presentations at the local, state, national and international levels.
In 2022, Dr. Zalon received the John L. Earl III Award for service to the University, the faculty and the wider community. She was also a recipient of the Duke University School of Nursing Distinguished Alumna Award, the PSNA Distinguished Nurse Award and a Leahy Fellowship at Scranton. She also received the University’s Excellence in Advancing Interdisciplinary Study Award in 2020.
Dr. Zalon earned her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from New York University.
