Afaf Ibrahim Meleis (born 1942) is an Egyptian-American nurse-scientist, researcher, and medical sociologist.
[1] She is a Professor of Nursing and Sociology and Dean Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served from 2002 through 2014.
[2] Her mother went on to establish undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at several Egyptian universities (including Alexandria University), numerous post-high school nursing educational programs around the Persian Gulf, and her own clinic as a nurse-midwife.
[3][4] Meleis has recounted that her mother’s work ethic and passion for nursing, as well as listening to the life experiences of the patients at the clinic from a young age, were instrumental in shaping her own career trajectory.
[2][3][4] Meleis graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing magna cum laude from Alexandria University in 1961.
[5] She then came to the US as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow to advance her education, earning a Master of Science in Nursing (1964), a Master of Arts in Sociology (1966) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medical and Social Psychology (1968) from UCLA.
[2][5] She was engaged to Mahmoud Meleis when she left Egypt, and after two years apart, convinced Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to allow him to join her in the United States.
[3] They both completed their PhDs at UCLA, Mahmoud’s in nuclear engineering, before moving together to San Francisco.
[4] Meleis is an expert on women and immigrant healthcare, global health, Transitions Theory, and nursing knowledge.
[7][8] Though she has since stepped down from the position, she continued as an active member, representative during Congresses (Botswana in 2008, Australia in 2006, and Brazil in 2015), and contributor to published news updates for decades following.
[8] After moving to San Francisco in 1971, she became assistant dean at the UCSF School of Nursing.
[12]) In Kuwait, Meleis was surrounded by global communities and cultures, and she began forming research questions about immigration, transitions of immigration, and their impacts on healthcare experiences, with a focus on vulnerable women.
[2][4] This served as the foundation for her and her team's development of Transitions Theory, a framework for understanding the experiences, responses, and consequences of change for patients, families, communities, and organizations.
[1] Known as the “Energizer Dean” by her colleagues, Meleis led a $109.3 million fundraising campaign, which went toward expansive initiatives and goals in the School of Nursing.
[16] Meleis continued to advance the School by establishing the Center for Global Women’s Health (CGWH) in June 2011.
[3][17] The CGWH is a pioneering research center that contributes to women's health scholarship, education, clinical practice, and leadership on a global level.
Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press Bhutta ZA, Chen L, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, Fineberg H, Frenk J, Garcia P, Horton R, Ke Y, Kelley P, Kistnasamy B, Meleis A., Naylor D, Pablos-Mendez A, Reddy S, Scrimshaw S, Sepulveda J, Serwadda D, Zurayk H. (2010).
Scholarly caring in doctoral nursing education: Promoting diversity and collaborative mentorship.