New York University College of Nursing is pleased to announce its Graduation Ceremony will take place on May 20, 2013, 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, at the New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, New Amsterdam Theatre in NYC. William T. Bester, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Brigadier General (RET), Senior Advisor, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program, will deliver the keynote graduation address

NYU College of Nursing Announces its 2013 Graduation Ceremony
William T. Bester, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Brigadier General (RET), Senior Advisor, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program

“Retired Brigadier General William T. Bester to Deliver the Keynote Speech”

New York University College of Nursing is pleased to announce its Graduation Ceremony will take place on May 20, 2013, 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, at the New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, New Amsterdam Theatre in NYC.  William T. Bester, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Brigadier General (RET), Senior Advisor, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program, will deliver the keynote graduation address.  Eileen Sullivan-Marx, Dean and Erline Perkins McGriff Professor of NYUCN will present Brigadier General Bester with the Agnes and Rosemary Ludden Award for Innovative Nursing Practice in recognition of exemplary leadership as an innovator of nursing practice.

“Brigadier General Bester is an inspiration to all nurses and particularly our graduates who have their full nursing careers ahead of them,” said Sullivan-Marx.  His stellar career stands as a testimony to the commitment, engagement, and dedication that nurses bring to every moment and situation where need arises.  At NYU College of Nursing, we prepare our graduates in the care and support of veterans and their families and are thrilled to have Brigadier General Bester speak to the remarkable Class of 2013.”

NYUCN will be granting a total of 659 degrees: 443 Baccalaureate Degrees; 193 Master’s Degrees; eight (8) Advanced Certificates; four (4) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees; and 11 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing Research and Theory Development Degrees.

Additional awardees include:

The Helen Manzer Award is being awarded to Lieutenant General Patricia D. Horoho in recognition of exemplary leadership on behalf of the health of the nation; the Distinguished Clinical Colleague Award is being presented to Dr. Carol Porter DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nursing Officer, Mount Sinai Hospital in recognition of outstanding clinical leadership; the Humanitarian Award is being presented to Dr. Catherine Taylor Foster PhD, RN, 1974 NYU Alumna, Army Nurse, Fulbright Senior Scholar, Peace Corps Volunteer in recognition of outstanding humanitarian efforts on behalf of professional nursing.

About William T. Bester, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Brigadier General (RET), Senior Advisor, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program

Prior to taking his current position, Brigadier General Bester served as the Vice President for External Affairs at the Uniformed Services University (USU) of the Health Sciences. Before that, he was USU’s Acting President for six months and prior to that had a short assignment as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Prior to his assignment as Acting PDASD, he served as the Vice President for Distributed Learning and as the Acting Vice President for External Affairs at USU. He also served as the University’s Acting Dean of the Graduate School of Nursing from July 2006 to December 2007. Following his retirement from active duty, he served as Professor of Clinical Nursing at the University of Texas in Austin and was also the Director of Nursing Practice with the Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, Texas.

Bester holds a BSN degree from the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota and an MSN from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Nurse Anesthesia Program at Madigan Army Medical Center.

His distinguished career in the US Army culminated in his selection as the 21st Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. While serving the Army as its Nursing Service Chief, Brigadier General Bester was also assigned as the Assistant Surgeon General for Force Projection and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Health Policy and Services (2000-2002) and as Commander of the Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (2002-2004).

Highlights of earlier assignments include sole anesthesia provider for the Cuban Refugee Operation at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas (1980); Chief Nurse of the 67th Combat Support Hospital during its deployment (1995) to Taszar, Hungary in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, later serving as Medical Task Force Commander with responsibility for all medical assets in Hungary and Croatia; and Commander, Moncrief Army Community Hospital, Ft. Jackson, South Carolina (1998).

As a Professor of Clinical Nursing at the University of Texas, Brigadier General Bester was asked (2005) to be Director of Nursing for a health care team, organized by Project Hope, to assist the victims of the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. He joined the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal “Men in Nursing” in 2006. A sought after lecturer on topics of nursing and health care leadership and disaster relief, Brigadier General Bester has been invited as a guest speaker to over 25 conferences, workshops, and meetings during the last 5 years. He is the recipient of the Luther Christman Award (2005) and 2 honorary doctorates; College of St. Scholastica (2001) and Seton Hall University (2003). His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, 3 Legion of Merits and 4 Meritorious Service Medals. He is a member of the Maryland Nurses Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau International and the Association of the United States Army.

About New York University College of Nursing
NYU College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Arts and Post-Master’s Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.  For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing.

 

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