Beverly L. Malone

Beverly L. Malone, one of the top 100 most influential African Americans according to Ebony magazine, is an international leader in nursing, education, and patients’ rights. She was president of the American Nurses Association from 1996–2000, only the second African American to hold this post. As president, Malone served as ANA’s official representative and public-policy spokesperson. She also represented U.S. nurses in the Congress of Nurse Representatives of the International Council of Nurses. During her presidency, Malone served on President Bill Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. President Clinton also appointed her to the U.S. delegation to the World Health Assembly, and she was a participant in the president’s roundtable discussion on the Patients’ Bill of Rights. In 2000, Malone was named deputy assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this position, she was senior adviser to the assistant secretary for health and provided advice and counsel to the secretary on public health and science issues.