The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected twelve early-career nursing faculty members as 2014 Nurse Faculty Scholars.

The seventh and final cohort selected for the program, which aims to strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools around the country, consists of junior nurse faculty who have demonstrated great promise as future leaders in the field of academic nursing. Scholars will receive $350,000 over three years to pursue research, leadership training in all aspects of the faculty role, and mentoring from senior faculty at his or her institution.

This year's scholars, each of whom has earned a Ph.D., include Felesia Bowen of Rutgers University, who will study whether bringing comprehensive team-based asthma specialty care to school-based clinics improves health outcomes for urban children; Ronald L. Hickman, Jr. of Case Western Reserve University, who will examine a dual process model for surrogate decision making in the intensive care unit; and Ashley Darcy-Mahoney of Emory University, who will research the advantages of bilingualism and its promotion of neuroplasticity in preterm infants.

Funded by RWJF and administered through the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, the program aims to address a shortage of nurse educators by helping more junior faculty succeed in, and commit to, academic careers. Launched in 2008, the program will close in 2017 when the 2014 cohort completes its three-year term as part of a reorganization of the foundation's Human Capital programs announced in January.

"Each of our 2014 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars has enormous potential and a deep commitment to educating nurses, improving health and health care, and building a Culture of Health in this country," said Jacquelyn Campbell, national program director and Anna D. Wolf Chair at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. "We look forward to working with this new group as they conduct groundbreaking research, strengthen the academy, and advance the nation’s health."

For a complete list of the 2014 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars, visit the RWJF website.