Dean White Delaney named Living Legend

Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FACMI, FNAP, FAAN, was named a 2025 Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing. The honor is the highest awarded by the Academy, bestowed for making significant contributions to nursing and health care over the course of a career.

White Delaney is one of six who were named Living Legends this year.

“Their commitment to advancing health and the nursing profession is evident through the decades they have dedicated in their pursuits to create healthier lives for all,” says Academy President Linda D. Scott, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FNAP, FAAN. “Together, these Living Legends are transforming care, creating policy impact, disseminating vital research, uplifting leaders within the profession, and improving the health of countless individuals in their communities.”

With a career spanning more than five decades, White Delaney is a globally renowned change agent in nursing informatics, education and health care innovation. Through innovative initiatives and global leadership, White Delaney has shaped health IT policy, mentored generations of nurse informaticists, and advanced health equity through preeminent programs in nursing science.

White Delaney was among the first to extract code and nursing data from electronic health records, leading to the development and implementation of the Nursing Minimum Data Set and Nursing Management Minimum Data Set, which gained international recognition and are still used today. She also led the creation of the nation’s first informatics-focused Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Minnesota, which is now ranked among the top programs nationwide. She co-founded the Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI), now representing over 25,000 nurse informaticists across 29 organizations.

In 2013, she led the launch of the influential Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Conference, now a key platform for advancing nursing informatics research, policy and practice.

White Delaney joins alumni Clara Adams-Ender, MS, FAAN, and Marie Manthey, MNA, FRCH, FAAN, and professor ad honoreum and former interim dean Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN, as a Living Legend. Dean’s National Board of Visitors member emeritus Franklin Shaffer, EdD, ScD, RN, FAAN, FFNMRCSI, is also a Living Legend.

White Delaney officially received the designation at the Living Legends Ceremony at the American Academy of Nursing’s annual Health Policy Conference in October.

Just 153 people have earned the Legend designation since it began in 1994.