When Dr. Betty N. Adams’ father told her she would “make a good nurse,” it greatly influenced a child who already had demonstrated a commitment to helping other people, particularly those who were sick.
Adams took his advice and went on to become one of the nation’s foremost nurse educators.
Now dean of the College of Nursing and a professor at Prairie View A&M University — a historically Black university in Texas — she is an expert administrator who has led fundraising to support the expansion of the program and the doubling of the college’s enrollment.
She passionately works to ensuring nursing practice, education, and research of the highest quality. Her contributions to nursing science and theory have been significant through her service on numerous councils and boards, such as the Board of Governors of the National League for Nursing and president of the Texas Organization of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Education.
Adams also serves on the policy, governmental advisory and international affairs advisory councils of the Texas Medical Center and has been published extensively, including in the Journal of Professional Nursing, The ABNF Journal of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty and the Journal of Theory Construction and Testing.
Adams says her work is rewarding in many ways.
“Working with other academics and partners in nursing and health care,” she says, “and supporting and observing students grow and evolve as nursing professionals.”
