UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, in collaboration with the Paul Robeson Cultural Center and the Multicultural Student Nursing Association, will host the 4th Annual Gunter-Gooding DEI Lecture Series in Nursing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, in the Flex Theater at the HUB-Robeson Center. The event will also be live streamed via Zoom.
This year’s lecture, “Neurodiversity 2.0: Optimizing the Gift of Neurodiversity,” will explore how health care systems and academic institutions can embrace and leverage the strengths of neurodivergent individuals. The event aims to expand awareness and promote inclusive practices that support neurodiverse communities in both educational and clinical settings.
The event is free and open to the public. Attendees with a valid RN license who attend the entire program may earn 1.0 contact hours. Advanced registration is required and can be accessed here.
Featured speakers include:
- Keynote: Daisy Lara, CEO and founder of Resilio Mental Health Solutions, presenting “Awareness to Advocacy: Provision I and the Call to Inclusive Neurodiverse Care.”
- Panelists: Michael Damon Hannon, College for Community Health, Montclair State University; and Terry Watson, associate director of Student Disability Services and interim director of Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity, Penn State World Campus.
The college is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
History of the Gunter-Gooding Lecture Series
The Gunter-Gooding Lecture Series honors two trailblazing African American women who led Penn State’s Department of Nursing. Laurie Martin Gunter served as head of the department from 1971 to 1976 and again from 1984 to 1985 as interim department head. A respected researcher focused on gerontological nursing, Gunter retired as professor emerita in 1987 and was a fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Academy of Nursing. She was also an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Marion Gooding served as department head from 1985 to 1987, following her deanship at the School of Nursing at Tennessee State University. She held advanced degrees in nursing and higher education administration and was known for her leadership and advocacy in academic nursing.
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