School of Nursing–Camden Commencement Speaker 2018

Linda J. Stierle, MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Linda J. Stierle, MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Brigadier General Linda J. Stierle, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, will speak at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m. at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey.

A national leader in nursing and health care, Brigadier General Linda J. Stierle retired from a distinguished career of military service in 2000 after serving as the twelfth Chief of the Nurse Corps and director of medical readiness and nursing services for the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.  In these roles, she shared responsibilities for the development of health care policy in support of 46,000 medical personnel and 80 medical treatment facilities, as well as oversight of a $4.5 billion budget.  She developed policies affecting 19,000 nursing personnel in active and reserve components and was responsible for training, organizing, and equipping all Air Force medics. 

Throughout her military career, Stierle earned some of the nation’s highest honors, including the Legion of Merit award with oak leaf cluster and the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters.

Upon retiring from military service, the brigadier general served as chief executive officer of the American Nurses Association, which is one of America’s largest and oldest professional nurses associations. In this role, she developed and implemented programs designed to meet the vision and goals of the association and leading and managing the association’s national headquarters, its operations, and its staff of nearly 200 individuals. She also served as CEO of the American Nurses Foundation.  She retired from the American Nurses Association in 2009.

She was instrumental in the creation of ANA’s newest constituency for nurses in the uniformed services, the Federal Nurses Association (FedNA).   In 2000, the ANA board of directors accepted FedNA as the 54th constituent member.

In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Stierle to a five-year term on the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where she served as vice chair of the board. She is also a member of the consumer advisory board of the American Academy of Family Physicians, as well as the Tau Theta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the Society of Air Force Nurses, and the American Society of Association Executives.

Stierle earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Incarnate Word College and her master’s degree in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco.

For further information, please email nursing@camden.rutgers.edu, or call (856) 225-6226.