The University of Michigan School of Nursing has announced the recipients of its 2026 Alumni Awards: Deleise S. Wilson, Ph.D., RN (Ph.D. 2011), and Laurel L. Northouse, Ph.D., RN, FAAN (BSN 1970, Ph.D. 1985).
The annual awards recognize Michigan Nursing alumni whose careers and contributions exemplify excellence in nursing practice, leadership, research and service to the profession.
Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
Deleise S. Wilson, Ph.D., RN (left), has been named the recipient of the Excellence in Clinical Practice Award for her contributions to nursing practice, education, leadership and patient safety.
Dr. Wilson has more than three decades of experience across clinical practice and nursing education and currently serves as the AdventHealth Dean of Nursing at Polk State College in Florida. Before joining Polk State, she served as senior associate dean of faculty affairs at the University of South Florida College of Nursing and as director of nursing at Kettering College in Ohio.
Throughout her career, Dr. Wilson has focused on preparing nurses for clinical practice and advancing approaches that support patient safety and positive health outcomes. Her scholarship has examined nursing unit leadership, staffing, patient safety culture and the organizational factors that influence nurses' ability to provide safe, effective care.
Dr. Wilson earned her Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Michigan in 2011. Her doctoral research examined registered nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture and the influence of nursing unit leadership. She later served on the Michigan Nursing faculty, continuing her work focused on nursing leadership and patient outcomes.
Her research has also explored charge nurses' staffing decisions, nurses' safety-organizing behaviors and the implementation of fall-prevention interventions. Across her work in clinical practice, research, education and academic leadership, Dr. Wilson has remained focused on strengthening the nursing workforce and preparing nurses to make sound clinical decisions in complex health care environments.
Career Lifetime Achievement Award
Laurel L. Northouse, Ph.D., RN, FAAN (left), professor emerita at the U-M School of Nursing, has been named the recipient of the Career Lifetime Achievement Award for her sustained contributions to nursing research and improving the lives of people with cancer and their family caregivers.
Dr. Northouse's connection to the University of Michigan spans more than five decades. She earned her BSN from Michigan Nursing in 1970 and returned to earn her Ph.D. in nursing research in 1985. She later joined the U-M School of Nursing faculty and served as the Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing.
"It was one of my life goals to get a degree in nursing from the University of Michigan, and as a grateful alumna, it is a tremendous honor to receive this award from the U-M School of Nursing," Dr. Northouse says.
Dr. Northouse is a nurse scientist whose career has focused on the impact of cancer on patients and their family caregivers. Her interest in the field was shaped in part by personal experience when her husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin disease early in their marriage. He has remained disease-free for 50 years.
"I wanted to use my evidence-based nursing knowledge and research skills, developed at Michigan, to improve the quality of life of other people with cancer and their family caregivers," Dr. Northouse says.
With the help of a large multidisciplinary team of nurses, graduate students and other health professionals, Dr. Northouse developed the FOCUS Program at Michigan, designed to improve outcomes for people with cancer through the components of family involvement (F), optimistic outlook (O), coping effectiveness (C), uncertainty reduction (U) and symptom management (S). All materials needed to implement the program are available on the U-M Innovations website.
Over the past two decades, Dr. Northouse and her collaborators have worked with health professionals to implement the program in different organizations and settings. FOCUS has expanded internationally, including through palliative care clinicians and researchers in six European countries. A web-based adaptation of the program is also being studied by researchers in Australia. Although she retired in 2014, Dr. Northouse has continued her work through training, research and publication.
The foundation for that work began during Dr. Northouse's own education at Michigan Nursing. As a BSN student, she learned to conduct comprehensive patient and family assessments, develop evidence-based nursing interventions and communicate effectively with patients and their families. Her doctoral education later helped turn those skills into a passion for nursing research.
"I relied on these basic skills throughout my nursing career to promote high-quality care to patients and their family members," Dr. Northouse says.
"I am very grateful for the quality education and professional guidance that I received at the U-M School of Nursing," Dr. Northouse says. "They prepared me well for my multifaceted career in nursing and allowed me to do work that has had a meaningful impact on those with cancer and their family caregivers."
Both Drs. Wilson and Northouse were recognized as recipients of the 2026 UMSN Alumni Awards on Friday, Oct. 16.
You can view photos of the entire awards ceremony on our Flickr page!