The John A. Hartford Foundation Names Terry Fulmer President

 

Following a national search, the John A. Hartford Foundation today announced that Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, University Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University, will become its new President.

 

Dr. Fulmer, who is also Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern, succeeds Corinne H. Rieder, EdD, who has led the Foundation since 1997 and who announced her retirement last summer. Fulmer will officially join Hartford this May.

 

“We are extremely pleased to have Terry Fulmer at the Foundation’s helm,” said Norman H. Volk, Chairman of the John A. Hartford Foundation. “She is an incisive thinker and passionate advocate for older adults. She has been a champion of geriatrics throughout her career. She will be a charismatic leader, not only for the Foundation, but for new ideas that drive real improvements in how our nation delivers health care to older people and their families.”

 

“I am honored and thrilled to take on this role,” said Dr. Fulmer. “Throughout my career, the John A. Hartford Foundation has been a central and dynamic force for better geriatrics care and education. I look forward to guiding Hartford’s efforts to change practice and policy and continuing to amplify our voice on behalf of older adults.”

 

Dr. Fulmer, who received her PhD at Boston College, is nationally and internationally recognized as a leading expert in geriatrics and is best known for her research on elder abuse and neglect, which has been funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Nursing Research. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and currently serves as the Chair of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows Program. She has served as the first nurse on the board of the American Geriatrics Society and as the first nurse to serve as president of the Gerontological Society of America.

 

Previous to her role as Dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Dr. Fulmer served as the Erline Perkins McGriff Professor of Nursing and founding Dean of the New York University (NYU) College of Nursing. For 15 years she also served as co-director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at NYU, which the Foundation began supporting in 1996. She has also held faculty appointments at Boston College, Columbia University, Yale University and the Harvard Division on Aging.

 

"We were gratified that the search process generated many highly qualified candidates from across the country," noted Hartford Foundation Trustee Margaret L. Wolff, who led the effort. "We are also grateful for the insights, support and suggestions that came in from so many different people and places. It's exciting to bring Dr. Fulmer into the Foundation's leadership and we look forward to ensuring a smooth transition."

 

Dr. Fulmer will build on the contributions of Dr. Rieder, who was the first woman to lead the Foundation and to serve as Hartford’s President. During Dr. Rieder’s tenure, Hartford expanded its efforts to build academic capacity in geriatrics in schools of medicine, nursing and social work, creating a lasting impact in all these disciplines. Additionally, she led efforts to build major funding partnerships with the National Institute on Aging to continue the Foundation's long-running Paul B. Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research program, the Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program, and the Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) program. Most recently, she has overseen the Foundation’s strategic shift towards direct influence on practice change and the more immediate determinants of the quality of health care for older adults. 

 

As the Foundation pursues this new direction, Dr. Rieder lauded the Board’s choice. “Terry Fulmer has devoted her career to improving the health of older Americans. A scholar, administrator, and clinician, she is well-prepared to lead the Foundation’s work, whether it is focused at the point of care or in system and policy settings.”