Awards
Each year, our Section recognizes the outstanding contributions of its members through the following awards. Please submit an award nomination form.
The Lillian Wald Service Award honors agencies, individuals, organizations, or media for depicting exemplary public health nursing, especially through legislative, professional, or public advocacy.
The Ruth B. Freeman Award honors an individual who has had a distinguished career in public health administration, education, policy, practice, or research.
The Public Health Nurse Creative Achievement Award recognizes an agency's, individual's, organization's, or media's exceptional and creative contribution to public health nursing administration, education, practice, or research.
The Feleta Wilson Award honors the legacy of Dr. Feleta L. Wilson, a dedicated member of APHA PHN and a steadfast champion of public health. This award recognizes a mid-career RN or APN, who is an enthusiastic and effective leader in nursing. The award winner exhibits dedication in meeting community needs and benefiting underserved populations.
The Emerging Investigator Award, awarded by the Research Committee, honors an early-career (NIH definition) PHN Section member's work since completing a doctoral education.
Awards Committee Chair: Ruth Grubesic (2023-2025)
2025 Award Recipients
The 2025 Lillian Wald Service Award was presented to Julie Kruse, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dr. Kruse’s career reflects a long-standing dedication to advancing equity, justice, and excellence in nursing and public health. She has served in multiple national leadership roles within APHA, including Chairperson of the Public Health Nursing Section, Governing Councilor, and Policy Committee Member, where she helped shape national health policy and champion the needs of vulnerable communities.
She has provided scholarly input to government agencies and advisory bodies, including participation in a White House Office of Climate Change and Health Equity roundtable on climate change as a public health emergency. Additionally, she collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to advocate for environmental protections for underserved populations.
As a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Network, Dr. Kruse contributed to the revision of national nursing education standards, integrating DEI principles and social determinants of health into core competencies for future nurses.
Most recently, she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Public Health Nursing Certification, which is developing the first national Public Health Nurse (PHN) certification examination, scheduled for launch in 2026.
Dr. Kruse is deeply honored to receive this recognition and remains committed to strengthening the nursing workforce, advancing health equity, and improving outcomes for marginalized communities.
The 2025 Ruth B. Freeman Award was presented to Krista Jones, DNP, PHNA-BC, FAAN
Dr. Krista Jones is Director of UIC College of Nursing (CoN) Urbana Regional Campus, a Clinical Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science, and a board-certified Advanced Public Health Nurse. Her research interests include academic practice partnerships, healthy environments, faith community nursing, the equitable care of marginalized populations, strategies to enhance the delivery of nursing and interprofessional education. Jones has authored numerous publications and is primary or co-investigator of 26 population health grants totaling more than $6.8 million including Co-I on three HRSA workforce and education grants and Faculty Lead for a fourth. She is primary investigator of Nursing Experts Translating the Evidence (NExT), a five-time National Library of Medicine-funded collaboration that provides free evidence-based programming. She is Inaugural Endowed Jean Stout Faculty Research Scholar at UIC CoN. Dr. Jones currently Chairs CPHNO, and the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center, She is President of the Champaign County Board of Health, and Immediate Past President of ACHNE. She is an Illinois Board of Higher Education Nursing Faculty Fellow, AACN Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing Fellow, Fellow of the National Academies of Practice and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
The 2025 Public Health Nurse Creative Achievement Award was presented to Shannon Simonovich, PhD, RN
Dr. Shannon Simonovich is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago whose career centers on advancing maternal and child health. She is a co-founder of the Maternal Child Health Initiative, a collaborative platform that connects research, practice, and policy to improve outcomes for mothers, children, and families. Through her innovative scholarship and advocacy, Dr. Simonovich has elevated the voices of maternal and child populations, expanded access to evidence-based resources, and strengthened the impact of public health nursing. Her work exemplifies the creativity, dissemination, and community impact celebrated by the APHA Public Health Nurse Creative Achievement Award.
The 2025 Emerging Researcher Award was presented to Anna M. Pirsch, PhD, RN, PMH-BC, PHN
Dr. Anna M. Pirsch is an assistant professor in the Department of Nursing at Augsburg University and co-founder of the Archive for Health, Arts, and Spirit (AHAS). She earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Minnesota and holds a master’s degree in Advanced Public Health Nursing from Hunter College of the City University of New York. With a foundation in public health nursing, Dr. Pirsch’s scholarship centers on critical consciousness, the wellbeing of public health nurses, and the pursuit of health equity. Her current research includes qualitative inquiry into help-seeking among urban Black women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Upper Midwest, as part of the NIH-funded study Sisters By Choice: United by Voice, led by Dr. Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu. She is also conducting a decolonial analysis of student transformation during global immersion experiences in Guatemala. A fifth-generation Minnesotan, Dr. Pirsch brings a critical lens to her region’s histories of race and belonging. Her work is grounded in accountability, healing, and deep care for community; values she carried through a decade of nursing practice and continues to bring into her teaching, research, and cross-sector collaborations today.
The 2025 Feleta Wilson Award was presented to Claire Valderama-Wallace, PhD, MPH, RN, PHN
Dr. Claire Valderama-Wallace, the daughter of Filipino immigrants is an Associate Professor of Nursing. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Physiological Sciences from UCLA in 2003 and Master of Public Health from George Washington University in 2005. She went on to earn a Master of Science in Nursing from UCSF in 2011 and a PhD in Nursing Science and Healthcare Leadership from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis in 2018. Guided by lessons from those whose shoulders she stands on and those she works alongside, she taught undergraduate and MSN students for nearly 15 years and is currently faculty at California State University East Bay. She is motivated by solidarity - the power of collective action across communities. As Dr. Edward Said wrote, “…there is no getting around authority and power, and no getting around the intellectual’s relationship to them.”
The 2025 Legislative Advocacy Award was presented to The Honorable Lauren Underwood
The Legislative Advocacy Award honors efforts on behalf of public health nursing and was inaugurated in the spirit of the work of the Federal Nursing Caucuses.
Congresswoman Underwood serves Illinois’ 14th Congressional District and was first sworn into Congress on January 3, 2019. She is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. Rep. Underwood is a registered nurse and co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which addresses America’s Black Maternal Health crisis in Congress and advances policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities. Rep. Underwood is Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and serves on the House Committee on Appropriations. Prior to her election to Congress, she served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helping communities across the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. As a career public servant at HHS, she also helped implement the Affordable Care Act, broadening access for those on Medicare, improving health care quality, and reforming private insurance. Rep. Underwood has taught future nurse practitioners through Georgetown University’s online master’s program and worked with a Medicaid plan in Chicago to ensure it provided high-quality, cost-efficient care. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University, and a lifelong Girl Scout.