Eloise "Patty" Rawlings Lewis: Scholar, Practitioner, Leader, Trailblazer

Eloise Patricia Lewis, RN, PhD, was one of North Carolina’s most influential nurses. Some of her contributions to nursing include being the founding dean of the UNC-Greensboro School of Nursing, President of the North Carolina Nurse Association (1967-1969), President of the NC League for Nursing, member of the NC Board of Nursing, and an NCNA Hall of Fame inductee. She gained recognition on a national level as one of 36 Charter Fellows in the American Academy of Nurses, serving as president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (1978-1980) and was the first editor of the Journal of Professional Nursing. Over her long career she received many honors and awards, including the 1976 Max O Gardner UNC system-wide award for excellence in teaching; the Peter Keys Award, the highest state-wide honor for leadership in Hospice; and the Founders Award, the highest honor bestowed by Sigma Theta Tau.