Mary Foley, PhD, RN, FAAN, is nurse researcher at the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) and an Emeritus Professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing. She was Interim Director for the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing and served as Assistant Director from 2014 to 2022 and a lecturer in the Masters Program.
Mary is past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). She has served as the ANA Consultant to the NSNA Board of Directors since 2021. She was Secretary of the American Academy of Nursing. Mary worked withCollaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC) since 2004 and Chairperson of the Board. Mary joined the Association of California Nurse Leaders board in February 2020 as the Academic representative through 2022. Mary is proud to have been the first chairperson of the Nursing Section for Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA). She served as a board member of the National Patient Safety Foundation, and she has worked in a partnership with Karen Curtiss to advance patient and family engagement and safe patient care. A registered nurse for 53 years, Foley continues to teach, write and lecture, promoting safe care for workers and patients nationally and internationally.
Foley received her nursing diploma in 1973 from New England Deaconness Hospital School of Nursing, her BSN in 1976 from Boston University School of Nursing in Massachusetts, and her Master’s of Science from UCSF in 1994 and her PhD from UCSF in 2010. She was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2013.
Approved by the NSNA Board of Directors, the Legal Consultant provides governance-focused legal guidance and strategic counsel during key leadership meetings, including the NSNA Annual Convention, NSNA MidYear Conference, Board of Directors Orientation, and other Board meetings. As Board leadership transitions annually, the Legal Consultant role will help ensure continuity, institutional knowledge, and adherence to sound governance principles.
"I look forward to leveraging my legal, governance and nursing experience to support the National Student Nurses’ Association's enduring commitment to governance excellence, organizational continuity, and the strategic development of our student leaders as they transition into future nurse leaders,” Dr. Robinson expressed.