The entire 2019 class of inductees of Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame are University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing graduates. This brings the total number of UAB School of Nursing graduates in the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame to 34.
Established in 2001, the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame exists to honor nurses and others who, through their work and accomplishments, have brought honor and fame to the profession of nursing and the state of Alabama.
The 2019 inductees who are all UAB School of Nursing alumni include Lt. Col. Linda Adams, Dr. Thomas Barkley, Dr. Martha Dawson, Dr. Constance Hendricks, Ms. Sylvia Homan and Ms. Deborah Wesley.
Lt. Col. Linda J. Adams is retired from the Air Force, where she earned numerous service medals including three Air Force Commendation Medals and a Meritorious Service Award. She served as an operating room supervisor, flight nurse instructor and staff development officer for over 400 military members during the 1990 Persian Gulf War. Now retired from military service, Adams continues to advocate for patients as a certified case manager at Emory St. Joseph Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Lt. Col. Adams earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the UAB School of Nursing in 1969.
Thomas W. Barkley, Jr., PhD, ACNP-BC, ANP, FAANP, is president of Barkley & Associates, Inc. and Professor Emeritus of the Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing at California State University, Los Angeles. In addition to teaching national and international continuing education courses for nurse practitioners, he has published more than 100 refereed articles and book chapters related to acute care nursing practice, nursing education and multicultural HIV/AIDS prevention. Barkley earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the UAB School of Nursing in 1994.
Martha Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE, is an associate professor at the UAB School of Nursing and serves as president of the National Black Nurses Association, Inc. She is a scholar in the Sparkman Global Health Center at UAB, a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow and Johnson & Johnson Wharton Nurse Administrative Fellow. Dawson is a two-time graduate of the UAB School of Nursing, earning her BSN and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees in 1976 and 1984, respectively.
Constance Smith Hendricks, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean of the Tuskegee University School of Nursing & Allied Health. Prior to this role, she served as Founding Dean of Nursing and Allied Health at Concordia College Alabama. She has also previously served as dean of nursing at Hampton University and held the Charles W. Barkley Endowed Professorship at Auburn University. Hendricks is a two-time graduate of the UAB School of Nursing, earning her BSN and MSN degrees in 1974 and 1981, respectively.
Sylvia Homan, MSN, RN, is Professor Emeritus of Nursing at the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing. She is recognized for making baccalaureate nursing education more accessible to associate degree graduates by initiating the first RN to BSN curriculum, which became a model throughout the state. She also helped to establish the nursing program at the University of West Alabama and has served on numerous nursing-related committees at the state level. She earned her BSN from the UAB School of Nursing in 1969.
Deborah Wesley, MSN, RN, is Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Children’s of Alabama. In this role, she developed a Clinical Scholars Program with the UAB School of Nursing, a focused nurse leader training program with the hospital’s organizational development department and a transition-to-practice program for new graduate nurses. Wesley also collaborated with the UAB School of Nursing to implement a residency program for psychiatric nurse practitioners, one of the earliest in the nation for pediatric hospitals. She earned her MSN from the UAB School of Nursing in 1986.
