Reprinted form Media Relations at Illinois State University.
Illinois State University’s Susana J. Calderon has been chosen to receive the 2012-2013 Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future – American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Minority Nurse Faculty Scholarship.
The new diversity coordinator for the University’s Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN), Calderon was one of only five national recipients chosen for the competitive scholarship, which provides financial support to graduate nursing students from minority backgrounds who agree to teach in a school of nursing after graduation.
Calderon, who joined the faculty of the Mennonite College of Nursing last semester, is pursuing her doctoral degree while teaching at the College. She is an instructional assistant professor in the MCN America’s Promise Schools Project, an initiative intended to improve the health of vulnerable children and youth in school settings through the efforts of nursing students in pediatric and public health nursing. She will also continue her research on vulnerable population and health disparities among minority groups. In addition, Calderon will be involved in the $1.1 million Workforce Diversity grant recently awarded to MCN.
Calderon received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Millikin University, where she also taught nursing. Before coming to Illinois State, Calderon was a flight nurse with the Air Force Reserve and worked at St. Mary’s Hospital and the Macon County Health Department, both in Decatur.
An advocate for the Latino community in Decatur, Calderon has been active with the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program at the Logan County Health Department, assisting in Spanish translation and output of information. She has been honored with scholarships from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Hispanic Scholarship.
Calderon is a member of the Illinois Nurse Association, the Transcultural Nursing Association and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses.
