College of Nursing Educator Inducted into Researcher Hall of Fame

After more than 30 years in nursing research, Dr. Susan McMillan has been inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.

Dr. McMillan, PhD, ARNP, FAAN, a distinguished university professor and Thompson professor of oncology nursing at USF College of Nursing received the distinction in Dublin, Ireland during a ceremony in July.

“This is the right award, at the right time in my life,” Dr. McMillan said. “It’s the perfect culmination to my career.”

According to the STTI website, the Honor Society of Nursing annually recognizes “nurse researchers who have achieved significant and sustained national and/or international recognition for their work and whose research has impacted the profession and the people it serves.”

Dr. McMillan has been at USF College of Nursing for 34 years. During this time, she established the graduate oncology program in 1985. She dedicated her career to research focused on cancer symptom assessment and management across the disease trajectory, as well as patient and caregiver quality of life.

Throughout her career, she has received grants totaling more than $12 million in funding from the American Cancer Society, Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Nursing Research and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

“As one of Dr. McMillan’s doctoral protégé’s from 2003 to 2008, I was the recipient of her exemplary research mentoring,” Dr. Harleah Buck, PhD, RN, FPCN, FAAN, associate professor at USF Nursing.  “Dr. McMillan exhibits a significant and sustained level of achievement which has national and international impact on the profession and facilitates the same in her protégés. Susan is a transformational mentor as evidenced by the continuing success of her protégés. She has chaired 23 doctoral dissertation committees and 100 master’s theses, significantly impacting the next generation of nurse scientists and clinicians.”

Story by Jessica Samaniego, Communications & Marketing Officer