Two prominent figures from the Rutgers School of Nursing community, Dr. Robyn Schafer and Dr. Susan Weaver, have been selected as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. This distinction, one of the highest honors in the profession, recognizes their exceptional contributions to nursing education, scholarship, and workforce policy.
The academy’s 2026 class of fellows, which includes leaders from 39 states and 17 countries, will be officially inducted during the organization’s annual Health Policy Conference, scheduled for Oct. 8–10 in Washington, D.C.
Honoring excellence in midwifery and workforce research
The fellowship recognizes nurse leaders whose work has fundamentally advanced health and healthcare policy through innovation and science.
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Dr. Robyn Schafer, an associate professor in the Rutgers School of Nursing’s Division of Advanced Nursing Practice and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, is being honored for her leadership in midwifery education and advocacy.
A faculty member since 2019, Schafer’s work focuses on shared decision-making, informed choice, and equitable, person-centered reproductive and perinatal care. Her research has significantly informed clinical guidance and professional standards both nationally and internationally. In addition to her academic role, she maintains an active clinical practice as a nurse-midwife at a federally qualified health center.
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Dr. Susan Weaver, a nurse scientist at the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing (NJCCN) and Hackensack Meridian Health’s Ann May Center for Nursing, is being recognized for her pioneering scholarship in nursing workforce research.
Weaver, a 2016 graduate of the Rutgers doctoral program in nursing, is nationally renowned for her research on underexplored workforces, including night-shift nurses, licensed practical nurses, and administrative supervisors. Her work at the NJCCN provides essential data that shapes state-level policy, regulation, and practice. Notably, she founded the Administrative Supervisor Conference in 2017 to improve nurse and patient safety outcomes.
“Rutgers School of Nursing has a distinguished community of academy fellows among our faculty and our alumni,” Angela Starkweather, dean and professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing, said. “We are proud to welcome Dr. Schafer and Dr. Weaver into that cadre. Their selection reflects the national impact of their scholarship, leadership and service, and the important contributions Rutgers nurses continue to make to health and health care.”
Upon their induction, Schafer and Weaver will join an esteemed group of Rutgers School of Nursing faculty who hold the FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing) designation. With this year’s incoming class, the academy’s total fellowship will exceed 3,600 nurse leaders dedicated to advancing nursing science and health policy.
