Please enjoy full-length interviews with both 2025 inductees:
M. Terese Verklan and Marlene Walden.

Marlene Walden, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, CCNS, FAAN

Dr. Marlene Walden is a graduate of Texas Women's University, earned her MSN at Texas Health Science Center Houston, and her PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. She is a dedicated advocate for neonatal patients, their families, and nurses.

With over 35 years of experience as a NNP, she has made significant contributions through her extensive research on neonatal assessment, pain management, heartbeat music therapy, and pediatric palliative care. Along with Dr. Terese Verklan, Dr. Walden authored and co-edited Core Curriculum for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing, now in its 6th edition. 

Learn more about our 2025 Hall of Fame inductees in this video presentation from our Spring National Advanced Practice Neonatal Nurses Conference in Austin, Texas. 

Susan Blackburn

Susan Blackburn is best known for her groundbreaking research and publications which have updated and added much knowledge to the field of Neonatology. She authored Maternal, Fetal, & Neonatal Physiology: A Clinical Perspective, which is now in its 5th edition, a textbook many of us have referenced. Of note, this publication was recognized as the 2018 AJN Book of the Year in the category of Maternal-Child Health/Prenatal Nursing/Childbirth.

Initially graduating with her bachelors in 1966, Susan had her eyes set on nursing and found herself caring for high-risk neonates in the Neonatal ICU. It was at the bedside that she often stepped into the role of educator. Wanting to lean into this role, she found herself back in school, earning both her master’s degree and PhD from the UW School of Nursing in 1973 and 1979. Following graduation she helped develop the Perinatal Nurse Specialist Program at UW. Susan directed the Department of Parent and Child Nursing program from 1981-1987 before becoming a professor of Parent and Child Nursing, all at the University of Washington School of Nursing in Seattle.

Please enjoy this full-length interview with Susan and executive committee member Stephanie Abbu. 

Adda May Allen

Adda May Allen is best known for her creation of the disposable baby bottle liner that could be thrown away after just one use.

Working as a nurse at Columbia Hospital in Washington D.C. in the 1940’s, she designed a plastic liner which allowed the sides to close in as a baby drank milk, helping to limit the ingestion of air. This design was tested out at George Washington University Hospital and later mass produced by Playtex.

Catherine Cropley

Catherine Cropley, RN, MN is most known for being a founding member of the Neonatal Education Program (NEP), whose modules became the foundation for what we now know as the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP).

Since its debut in 1987, NRP can be observed in delivery rooms and NICUs in around 130 countries with more than 18,500 trained instructors. It is safe to say that Catherine Cropley not only witnessed the history of the NICU unfold throughout her career, but that she contributed to its history.

We can thank her for every time NRP has been used in our institutions and for the countless number of infants whose lives have been saved thanks to her groundbreaking research and dedication to neonatal education. We are honored to induct Catherine Cropley into the Hall of Fame. 

Please enjoy this full-length interview with Catherine and the induction presentation held at the Spring 2023 Hawaii Conference.
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Coney Island Nurses

The Coney Island nurses cared for premature infants between the years of 1903 and 1943. These nurses helped pioneer the use of incubation for premature babies in the United States. We acknowledge the nurses devotion to these tiny lives, and the role that the nurses played in the development of neonatal care. 

Madame Henry 

Madame Henry, a French midwife, is being inducted into the Hall of Fame because of her contribution in helping to construct the first unit dedicated to caring for sick newborns.

Following the first successful trial run of incubators at the Paris Maternity by Dr. Stephane Tarnier, Madame Henry was put in charge of caring for newborns as his Midwife-in-Chief. On July 10, 1893, the Pavilion of Weaklings opened. It was the first of its kind to focus on caring for premature and sick infants and had 14 incubators. All infants were accepted into the unit, whether term or preterm, with attempts made to care for infants born less than six months gestation. Henry herself oversaw the care of 721 infants from 1893-1895. 

Charles Rait

Charles Rait, BSN, MSEd, PNC is the founder of Neonatal Network (1981) and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (1984). He is the originator of the Academy of Neonatal Nursing (2001) and hundreds of outstanding educational conferences and learning programs sponsored through these organizations.  

Chuck has been involved in neonatal care for 46 years. He graduated from Adelphi University in New York in 1975 with his BSN. Neonatal nursing became his passion while working in an NICU as part of a senior immersion project. Chuck wanted to further expand his education but with neonatology being in its infancy, he opted to attend a certificate program to become a Perinatal Nurse Clinician which allowed him the opportunity to care for both pregnant women and babies. After finding so little information on how to care for neonates, he realized neonatal nurses needed a publication specific to their field. The newsletter he and his wife Suzanne created morphed into the journal of Neonatal Network within its first year, which he published and served as editor for many years. He served as the executive director of NANN until 1996. He has been the CEO of the Academy of Neonatal Nursing that serves as the premier educational source for neonatal nursing today!

Please enjoy this full length interview with these nursing pioneers and our award  presentation to all recipients.

Sister Jean Ward

Sister Jean Ward is best known for contributing to the discovery of phototherapy treatment for neonatal jaundice.

In the 1950s, she was the charge nurse of the premature nursery at Rochford General Hospital in Rochford, Essex, United Kingdom. She believed that taking infants outside for fresh air and warm sunshine was better than keeping them in overheated incubators. Her observation and further studies by Dr. Dobbs, proved that bilirubin levels quickly fell after infants were exposed to daylight, sunlight and artificial light. We are honored to recognize Sister Jean Ward for her observations leading to the development of phototherapy.

Gene Cranston Anderson and Susan Ludington

As neonatal nurses, we have gained significantly by the collaboration of Gene Cranston Anderson and Susan Ludington in the practice of Kangaroo care. Kangaroo care is now recognized as one of the most effective nursing interventions in the NICU for family-integrated and developmentally supportive care of preterm infants and their mothers, and is recommended for all newborns by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics (JPN). By their tireless efforts and generosity of continued research, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Ludington shared their skill and insight through mentoring countless students and colleagues. As neonatal nurses, we have enhanced knowledge and skills to offer families. Because of the hard work of these two nurses and those they have inspired, the outcomes and experiences of millions of families have been and continue to be improved and enriched.

Please enjoy this full length interview with these nursing pioneers and our award  presentation to all recipients. 

Evelyn Lundeen, right, headed the first premature nursery in the United States.

Tracy Karp, left, introduces Patricia Johnson. 

Pat Johnson

Patricia Johnson, DNP, MPH, RN, NNP, pioneered the advanced practice neonatal nursing role in the Intermountain Newborn Intensive Care Center at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City in 1973, as part of her MSN degree. Pat noted in her thesis that a nurse working in an advanced practice, primary care role could care for infants needing intensive care in a manner comparable to pediatric interns, with greater continuity of care.

Following graduation, Ms. Johnson worked in an advanced practice role at the Children's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later in Phoenix, Arizona. Throughout her career, Pat has been a driving force in moving the specialty of neonatal nursing forward. She was a member of the first Board of Directors of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and worked in many capacities within the organization, including Interim Executive Director. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Academy of Neonatal Nursing.

As we celebrate the Past, Present and Future of Neonatal Nursing we are delighted to recognize and pay tribute to Ms. Johnson, the inaugural inductee to the Neonatal Nursing Hall of Fame.