Dr. Ernest Grant is a nurse, nursing educator, nursing leader, and renowned expert on burn care from North Carolina.

It was his school guidance counselor who suggested that he attend nursing school, and the fastest route to health care was to become a Licensed Practical Nurse. He received his certification from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, close to his hometown of Swannanoa in North Carolina. He began working on a medical-surgical unit. After he worked there for a few months, he knew nursing would be his career.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing from North Carolina Central University, his master’s degree and a doctoral degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His nursing career began when he earned his doctoral degree. Grant always knew he wanted a career in health care. And while his original goal was to be an anesthesiologist, once he started his career in nursing, he never left the profession.

In 2002, prior to earning his doctoral degree, Grant was presented the Nurse of the Year Award by President George W. Bush for his work treating those injured on 9/11. He has extensive experience working with burn injuries. He worked at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the George W. Bush administration, he taught burn education to U.S. soldiers prior to their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Grant has also served as a consultant to the South African government in the preparation of fire safety materials and advised them on burn prevention policies. In 2013, he was awarded the B.T. Fowler Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Grant was instrumental in advocating for nurses' safety during the Personal protective equipment (PPE) supply shortage in early 2020. He signed up to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial to help rebuild trust with the Black community. During an interview with Black Enterprise, Grant commented, “I thought it was imperative to serve as a role model to not only nurses who need to be involved and included in COVID-19 vaccine development, but also for Black people who have been historically underrepresented when it comes to vaccine testing. As a result, it was especially important for me to be that representation, given the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 in our Black communities.”

Through the years, Grant worked his way up the nursing ranks and made history. He added several “firsts” to his name. According to the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Grant became the first African American male to graduate from the university with a doctorate degree in nursing in 2015. In 2010, he was elected the first African American male president of the North Carolina Nurses Association and he was also the first male elected as vice president of the ANA. In 2018 when he began the 36th president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the first man to serve in this position. As part of his ANA duties, Grant works to promote diversity in nursing. Grant was re-elected to a second term as the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) national President, with the tenure that began January 1, 2021.

Aside from his ANA duties, he serves as an adjunct nursing faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Dr. Ernest Grant is a personal role model of mine and a shining example of the diversity of the nursing profession,” said Chris Martin, both an AUSON graduate and assistant clinical professor in the nursing school. “It does not take a lot of research to see that there aren’t many Black men in nursing or nursing education.”