Regional One Health Senior Vice President and Chief Integration Officer Susan Cooper, MSN, RN, FAAN, has been selected by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) to be part of the prestigious Global Nursing Leadership Institute (GNLI) program. 

 The GNLI program brings together nurses in senior or executive level positions from across the world. The participants are selected through an extremely competitive application process.  This year’s group of GNLI scholars includes 34 nurses from 33 different countries.  Cooper is the only person selected to participate from the United States. 

 Cooper is no stranger to policy and public health.  Cooper first served as a Special Policy Advisor to Governor Bredesen and was subsequently appointed in 2007 to serve as the Commissioner of the Department of Health, State of Tennessee.  She is the only registered nurse to have served in this capacity.  Before joining state government, Cooper was a faculty member and assistant dean at Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing.  She has experience in clinical, academic, governmental, and public health nursing.