Page 13 - Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine Spring 2023 - Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Appreciation

P rofessor Emerita Fannie Gaston-Johansson, parties, music. ... She was just larger than life, a giant

PhD, RN, FAAN, an internationally renowned
who will be missed in nursing.”
educator and nurse researcher and the
first Black woman to become a tenured professor at Dr. Gaston-Johansson was also an advocate for
Johns Hopkins University, died of congestive heart students and oversaw the Minority Global Health
failure January 7 at her home in Baltimore’s Mount Disparities Research Training Program, leading 160 NEWS FROM JOHNS HOPKINS NURSING
Washington neighborhood, surrounded by family. students in finding solutions to health disparities and
She was 84. economic disadvantages across the world.

Dr. Gaston-Johansson, a member of the Johns Hopkins “She grew up in the segregated South, and during high
School of Nursing (JHSON) faculty from 1993 until her school, she walked a mile each Sunday to babysit for a
retirement in 2014, focused her research on health white family,” her son Christian Johansson, a member
disparities, pain management, end-of-life care, and of JHSON’s Nursing Advisory Board, told the Baltimore
coping strategies for women diagnosed with breast Sun. “The family was so impressed with her that they
cancer. She is best known for developing the Pain-O- offered to pay her college tuition on the condition that
Meter, a tool to help patients find the right words to let ‘if you see someone, you help them in some kind of
clinicians know how much they are hurting. way.’ It became her lifelong call to action.”

“Dr. Gaston-Johansson led a remarkable career as In May, the university named a high-profile faculty
a trailblazing scientist, a brilliant researcher who recruitment initiative in honor of Dr. Gaston-
elevated nursing to its rightful place as a science, Johansson, a two-time recipient of the Johns
and as a leader in developing new methods to Hopkins Diversity Recognition Award. The Fannie
improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia,” Gaston-Johansson Faculty of Excellence Program is
remembers Dean Sarah Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN. “She part of a $50 million investment that focuses on the
broke barriers, becoming the ‘first’ many times. ... recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty
Students and colleagues have benefited from her who demonstrate a commitment to diversity and
experience, leadership, and commitment to inclusion.” inclusive excellence. The initiative will bring 30 diverse 11
scholars to Johns Hopkins, with a concentration on
After growing up in Hickory, NC, and earning a areas where diversity among faculty has lagged and an
bachelor’s in nursing from Winston-Salem State emphasis on recruiting scholars in science, technology,
University, Dr. Gaston-Johansson joined Johns engineering, and math fields.
Hopkins as the next big step in a medical, teaching,
and research career that included stops in New York, Dr. Gaston-Johansson told the JHU Hub in May, “I
Texas, California, Nebraska, and Sweden, where she think recruiting and promoting diverse faculty
earned a PhD at the University of Gothenburg. scholars makes such an important difference in how
you talk to people, how you understand people, and
In 1998, she was promoted to full tenured professor, how you treat them. I think you have to have a host of
the first Black woman to earn that distinction in Johns experiences coming together with students and faculty,
Hopkins University’s history. She maintained her that’s the way you really grow, not just educationally
appointments at Johns Hopkins while also returning but socially, and you get a broader perspective on life.”
to the University of Gothenburg, where she served
as a professor and then as dean from 2001 to 2005, She served on the Maryland Governor’s Task Force on
dividing her time between Baltimore and Sweden. Healthcare Access and Reimbursement and received
many awards, including the Links INC International
“She was a woman and a colleague who set very Trends and Service Award, the National Black Nurses
high standards,” says JHSON Professor Emerita Association’s Trailblazer Award, Excellence in Nursing
Phyllis Sharps, a colleague and friend to Dr. Gaston- awards, and citations from the U.S. Congress for her
Johansson for more than two decades. “She was a research efforts. She was named a Living Legend of
very strategic thinker and planner, and she didn’t give the American Academy of Nursing, was inducted into MAGAZINE.NURSING.JHU.EDU
up easily—she was always committed to faculty, to the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society International
moving them forward in both research and teaching.” Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, and was an elected
member of the Royal Academy of Letters, History and
“As hard as she worked, she also enjoyed a good time, Antiquities in Sweden. ◼