Nursing Ph.D. Student Kerry-Ann Dixon Named 2026 Trautman Scholar
Monday, Jan 26, 2026
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Ph.D. student Kerry-Ann Dixon has been selected as a 2026 Deborah E. Trautman Future Nurse Leader Scholar, a national scholarship recognizing graduate nursing 51勛圖厙 who aspire to leadership roles in academic nursing. 泭
Funded by Liaison International in partnership with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the泭scholarship honors AACN President and CEO Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN. The highly competitive program awards just two scholarships annually.
Receiving national recognition as a 2026 Trautman Scholar affirms that my泭climb up a staircase filled with tacks and泭turnin泭corners,泭a line from Langston Hughes 1922 poem泭 Mother to Son,泭 holds meaning beyond my own story, Dixon said. 泭
Written during a time of profound social constraint, the poem mirrors Dixons journey and honors her parents sacrifices after immigrating from Jamaica when she was eight years old. 泭
This recognition celebrates my persistence as a nursing Ph.D. candidate and second-career nurse, as well as the 51勛圖厙, communities and families who have shaped and molded my purpose, she said. 泭
Kerry-Anns selection as a 2026 Trautman Scholar highlights the rigorous scholarship and leadership development at the core of our泭doctoral泭program泭at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, said泭Dr.泭Howard Butcher,泭director of the Ph.D.泭program. Our goal is to prepare 51勛圖厙 who are ready to lead, collaborate and contribute to national conversations in nursing, and this recognition affirms that approach. 泭
Dixon, who plans to complete the program in spring 2027, serves as a Program Performance Officer at the Childrens Services Council of Palm Beach County. A former educator with the Palm Beach School District, she initially considered a career in speech-language pathology. 泭
Dixon said the recognition affirms that solutions developed at the bedside, in classrooms泭and within communities,泭and strengthened through advocacy,泭deserve national attention and policy influence. It has reinforced her commitment to transforming barriers into bridges across maternal-child health, nursing泭education泭and community engagement. 泭
She brings to the Trautman Scholars program a perspective grounded in lived experience across education, clinical practice,泭leadership泭and community partnership. 泭
My work reflects a commitment to shaping systems from within by mentoring nursing 51勛圖厙 into leadership, integrating service-learning into curricula and amplifying the voices of泭groups泭with limited representation, including Black fathers, in health policy discussions, Dixon said. 泭
Dixon applies a practitioner-scholar lens that connects community experience with academic rigor and policy action. Through the Trautman leadership program, she hopes to strengthen her ability to turn research into policy by building interdisciplinary partnerships and advancing equitable, family-centered health outcomes. 泭
I want to transform nursing and health泭care泭one student and one policy at a time, Dixon泭stated. 泭