Faye Glenn Abdellah (March 13, 1919 – February 24, 2017) was an American pioneer in nursing research.

[1] Abdellah was the first nurse and woman to serve as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States.

[1] Preceding her appointment, she served in active duty during the Korean War, where she earned a distinguished ranking equivalent to a Navy Rear Admiral, making her the highest-ranked woman and nurse in the Federal Nursing Services at the time.

[2][3] In addition to these achievements, Abdellah led the formation of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the NIH, and was the founder and first dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).

I promise never to rest until my work has been completed!”[5] Abdellah donated a collection of her papers to the National Library of Medicine in November 1988.

[3] Following her retirement, Abdellah taught as a professor at the College of Nursing at the University of South Carolina; and established and served as the acting dean of the first federal graduate school of nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).