Georgetown Nurse Executive in Residence Honored with AONL Lifetime Achievement Award

(January 7, 2026) — Robyn Begley (N’77), a Georgetown University Berkley School of Nursing Nurse Executive in Residence, part of the post-master’s Executive Doctor of Nursing Practice in Health Systems Leadership and Policy program, will be honored with the American Organization for Nursing Leadership’s (AONL) Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, announced in December 2025, will be presented to Begley in March.

The award honors an AONL member recognized by the nursing community as a significant leader in the nursing profession who has served AONL in an important leadership capacity.

Begley served as AONL’s CEO and the American Hospital Association’s chief nursing officer, senior vice president of workforce until her retirement in December 2024.

During her tenure in those roles, she guided the membership organization, which consists of more than 11,000 nurse leaders whose strategic focus is excellence in nursing leadership. She oversaw a number of key initiatives involving workforce, quality and safety, and future care delivery models. In addition, she worked collaboratively with the AHA to ensure the perspectives and needs of nurse leaders were heard and addressed in public policy issues related to nursing and patient care, and led the AHA Workforce initiative.

Begley previously served as vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer at AtlantiCare in Atlantic City, New Jersey. During her 35-year tenure, she led AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center to achieve the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet designation four times and was part of the executive team that led the organization to achieve the 2009 Baldrige National Quality Award for innovation and performance excellence. She also worked with NAACP, Hispanic Alliance and Pan Asian leaders to promote diversity in the nursing workforce by establishing nursing fellowship and scholarship programs, as well as a mentoring program for students.

Begley serves on many boards, most recently as a member of the AONL board of directors, chair of AONL Foundation board of directors, and the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare board of directors. Begley earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rutgers), New Brunswick, New Jersey, master’s degree from Widener University, Chester, Pennsylvania, and bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is board certified as an advanced nurse executive with the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Begley was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing class of 2020.