The Lauder Fellows: Meet the first ten

The Nursing School’s ten inaugural Fellows to the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner program will work with rural and urban underserved communities for the tuition-free program.

The inaugural cohort of the Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program is comprised of ten Fellows who will begin full-time studies towards a nurse practitioner degree. The tuition-free program is dedicated to building a nurse practitioner workforce committed to working in and with underserved rural and urban communities.

A Penn Nursing student oversees a young student.
The Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program will recruit and prepare nurse practitioners to provide primary care to individuals and families in underserved communities across the U.S.

“With the first of the Leonard A. Lauder program Fellows joining us at Penn Nursing, we begin the work of preparing these excellent nurses to be leaders in providing care in under-resourced communities,” says Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel. “The impact this program will have in communities that face barriers to care cannot be overstated—and all of us at Penn Nursing are grateful to Leonard A. Lauder for his vision and commitment to improving health and health care in areas where it is most needed.”

The Leonard A. Lauder program at Penn Nursing is a two-year, rigorous Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program. It was borne of a $125 million gift—the largest ever to an American nursing school—by Penn alumnus Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies.

Each Fellow will complete at least 50% of their clinical education at community partner sites and/or comparable sites that provide direct patient care, an invaluable experience that will prepare Fellows to meet the complex needs of patients and families throughout their careers. Every Fellow will be expected to commit to practice or service in an underserved community for two years after graduation.

Read more at Penn Nursing News.