In 2020, the UAB School of Nursing began celebrating its 70-year legacy of excellence and leadership. As part of this celebration, they began planning to recognize 70 distinguished alumni as Visionary Leaders, as they did with the original 60 Visionary Leaders during their 60th Anniversary Celebration. When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their plans, the school pivoted to virtual celebrations, never relinquishing its plan to celebrate 70 deserving alumni as Visionary Leaders for their extraordinary leadership, innovation and service to nursing and health care.
The 70 Visionary Leaders the school is honoring are presidents of national organizations and universities, nurse executives, attorneys, clinical leaders, deans, directors, faculty, scientists, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and even a bishop—all whose outstanding contributions throughout their careers have had far reaching impact on health and health equity.
One of the leaders being honored in this group is Dr. Linda Gibson-Young, professor in the Auburn University School of Nursing. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing from UAB School of Nursing in 2003 and 2011, respectively, and has since added an MBA (2021) to her list of degrees.
Gibson-Young is recognized as a leader in pediatric asthma care, through her sustained community work to improve the lives of children with asthma. Early in her decorated career, she collaborated with community partners in developing the Young Teen Asthma Camp, a camp that served young adolescents with asthma. The research conducted during the camp session found improvements in self-efficacy, responsibility and maturation in asthma management. Gibson-Young developed her own day camp, Reach your Peak, in partnership with the Children’s Hospital Harbor Center and Pediatric Pulmonary Center to continue her research on children with asthma. She has also worked with other camps for children around the Southeast including, Kissimmee Easy 2 Breathe Asthma Camp in Florida and Camp WheezeAway, Asthma Camp Eagle in Alabama.
She has been a part of several research initiatives that investigate asthma treatment for children. Along with senior asthma scientists at UAB, she participated in a novel study, entitled Effectiveness of School Based Supervised Asthma Therapy (National Heart Blood and Lung Institute (NHLBI), NIH, HL075043). This innovative study found supervised asthma therapy improved asthma control.
Gibson-Young has garnered several awards and honors because of her amazing research and contribution to respiratory health. In 2020, she was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice – Nursing, as well as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2016. She was selected in 2015 for the highly competitive and rigorous American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Program, in recognition of her potential for executive leadership. In 2015 she received the Outstanding Research Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.
“These Visionary Leaders, and the 60 that came before them, represent the best of the UAB School of Nursing and represent all of our alumni and the core values that unite us together,” said Dean Dr. Doreen C. Harper.
