Gessner College Dean Inducted to National Academies of Practice
Kathryn Tart, professor and founding dean of the University of Houston Gessner College of Nursing, has been elected Distinguished Fellow/Professional Member in the National Academies of Practice.
Members of the Class of 2025 were inducted during the Annual Induction Banquet and Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC on Saturday, March 15, 2025.
“I am very honored and grateful for this recognition,” Tart said. “Healthcare and healthcare research encompasses diverse specialties and requires collaboration within our disciplines if we are to improve healthcare for all.”
Founded in 1981, the National Academies of Practice advances interprofessional education, scholarship, research, practice and public policy. Membership acknowledges those who have excelled in their profession and who are dedicated to those goals.
Under her guidance:
- The college joined other Houston and UH colleges as part of the Consortium for Translational and Precision Health to advance health care solutions.
- Tart led Houston area nursing and healthcare leaders in advocating for a Workplace Violence Bill, which required healthcare facilities to adopt written workplace violence prevention policy and plans by September 2024. The measure was signed into law in 2023.
- The college’s Nurse-managed Health Clinic in Houston’s midtown area collaborates with non-profit and faith-based entities as well as other UH health profession colleges including the UH College of Optometry and the Graduate College of Social Work.
- The college provided guidance to universities in India to create the first Doctor of Nurse Practice program.
The NAP Academies include Athletic Training, Audiology, Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Oral Health, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Physician, Podiatric Medicine, Psychology, Public Health, Respiratory Care, Social Work, Speech-Language Pathology, and Veterinary Medicine.
