Jeanne Leffers ‘69

As an alumna of Simmons, I have been a member of the Simmons Community for more than 40 years. I completed my BA in nursing in 1970 (Class of 1969) as a member of the last class in the five year nursing program. My desire for a strong grounding in the arts and sciences was one of the main reasons I selected Simmons and my course of study included 70 credits in the humanities and social sciences while I completed the science and nursing requirements. On my first day at Simmons, President Park reminded us that we were not at Simmons to "get" our education but to begin our post secondary lifelong learning. That was among the best advice I received as a student at Simmons. The breath of my education served me well when I completed an MS in nursing at the University of Rhode Island and an MA and PhD in sociology at Brown University. During my career I have worked as a public health nurse in Tennessee and Virginia and taught nursing at the university level in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Currently I teach at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Nursing teaching at the undergraduate, masters and PhD levels. As a member of the Dean‘s Advisory Board for the School for Health Sciences at Simmons, I bring my academic expertise as the former graduate program director and as a nursing faculty member to my advisory role.

Although I have taught a wide variety of courses during my career, my specialty is public health nursing, however, my academic focus and passion is environmental health and global hearth nursing. I have been actively involved with a variety of national and international professional organizations such as the American Nurses Association, the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (AHNE), Sigma Theta Tau International, the Eastern Nursing Research Society and Health Volunteers Overseas. I have been recognized for my service to local communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I find that my work with environmental health nursing and global health are where I am most able to promote my philosophy of prevention, human rights, social justice and sustainability. It is the poor and those of minority status who are most often the ones living at greater risk of adverse health effects from environmental toxins and those living in developing countries who suffer poorer health outcomes. Such issues of social justice are at the heart of my teaching, research and service as a faculty member.

Outside of my professional world, I love to bike averaging about 2500 miles or more per year. My husband and I also love to travel to new places both as volunteers and tourists where meeting new people broadens my understanding of the world and keeps me learning new and exciting things. My three grown children and daughter-in-law try to keep me young!