ACNM welcomes MaryJane Lewitt, PhD, CNM, FACNM as the new Chair of the Division of the Advancement of Midwifery. Dr. Lewitt is the Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the School of Nursing, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She possesses over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, nursing/nurse-midwifery education, administration, and research work. She received nursing and midwifery education from the University of Florida and her PhD from Emory University. In 2000, Dr. Lewitt received the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ Kitty Ernst Award, the national outstanding young life achievement award in the profession of Nurse-Midwifery. She graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Leadership at Harvard in 2004. She has participated both nationally and locally in ACNM since 1994 and is a National Fellow.
Dr. Lewitt’s contribution to ACNM began as a student, representing ACNM as part of the Coalition of Health Professional Students, an interdisciplinary think tank of students focused on ideas to increase interdisciplinary education across the US. Her work on this became the foundation for the formation of the ACNM Student Committee, and she was selected as the inaugural chair, a role she served in for 6 years. More recently, she chaired the Maternity System and Quality/Safety national committee of the ACNM Healthy Birth Initiative and led the team that created “Birth Matters,” a document for hospitals and quality and safety officers who are considering implementing components of the Healthy Birth Initiative within their facility. She has represented ACNM at the International Normal Birth Conference, presenting on this work. Throughout her 27-year ACM membership, she has also chaired the Public Relations Committee, served on and chaired the Membership Committee, served on 50th Anniversary Task Force, participated on the local committee for the ACNM Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA, and served on the Clinical Guidelines Committee, Quality and Safety Committee, and Archives Committee.
She has served the nurse-midwives of Georgia as ACNM Affiliate Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, and President. During her time in Georgia, she represented the ACNM Georgia Affiliate on many legislative issues and became the Inaugural Chair of the Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in Georgia, a role she held for 7 years, working toward removing barriers to practice for midwives and APRNs across the state. MaryJane received the prestigious national ACNM Kitty Ernst Award in 2000, a young life achievement award for innovative, creative endeavors in nurse-midwifery for her contributions to the ACNM. In 2004, she received the ACNM Foundation Leadership Development Fellowship, which supported her to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Leadership at Harvard University and bring these skills back to her leadership roles within ACNM. Dr. Lewitt has supported the future of midwifery as the concentration coordinator for midwifery and dual majors with midwifery at Emory University, along with the Practice team chair overseeing APRN programs, including midwifery, at University of New Mexico. During her time as midwifery program director, she served on the Directors of Midwifery Education and was elected to be the Chair.