Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). As the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, AACN serves the public interest by setting standards, providing resources, and developing the leadership capacity of member schools to advance nursing education, research, and practice.
Prior to AACN, Dr. Trautman served as the Executive Director of the Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Transformation at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She served in other leadership positions at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Trautman has authored publications on health policy, leadership, nursing practice and nursing education.
Dr. Trautman is a member of several professional societies and serves on a number of high profile boards and advisory groups, including the Research!America Board of Directors, the Joint Commission Chief Nurse Executive Council (CNEC), and is past Treasurer and Chair of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative. She has contributed as a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Well-being and Resilience, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Special Medical Advisory Group, which advises the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on matters related to healthcare delivery, research, education, and related areas and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as program director of the New Careers in Nursing project.
Dr. Trautman is a 2007/2008 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow who worked for the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is also a Distinguished Nursing Fellow in the National Academies of Practice.
Dr. Trautman received a BSN from West Virginia Wesleyan College, an MSN from the University of Pittsburgh, and a PhD in health policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.