Diana Morris (2018)

This year’s recipient of the Shirley Novosel award is an alumnus who exemplifies the spirit of nursing and Penn State’s College of Nursing mission of a caring spirit, professional style and commitment to the nursing profession. Diana Lynn Morris graduated from Penn State in 1981 and currently she is the Executive Director of the University Center on Aging and Health and the Florence Cellar Associate Professor of Gerontological Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing of Case Western Reserve University.

Diana holds positions in higher education in the US and Zimbabwe Africa as well as positions in the clinical setting. Her areas of practice include psychiatric nursing, community health nursing, medical/surgical nursing, and child psychiatry. She is also very active supporting professional organizations such as American Academy of Nursing, American Society on Aging, Gerontological Society of America, Society of Rogerian Scholars, and Sigma Theta Tau International.

Something that distinguishes Diana from her peers and aided in the selection of her nomination for this award was her commitment to the profession. She has been consistent in her high level of community service, elevating the contributions of nursing in innumerable arenas of society. From the Greater Cleveland Center for Community Solutions to the McGregor assisted living Home and Group; to the West Side Ecumenical Ministries to the Cleveland area Center for Families and Children; the Cuyahoga County Department of Senior Services to the Hill House and its services for severely mentally ill adults; and the United Way of Greater Cleveland to the Eliza Bryant Village (the nation’s oldest operating African American long-term care facility).
Diana has been a forerunner of what many in the professional associations of nursing are calling on nurses to do: “get involved in one’s community”; especially in activities that impact public policy.

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