By Laura Gasque
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair Maria R. Shirey, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN, has been selected for induction into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. Shirey is being recognized for her leadership in advancing nursing education, research and workforce development.
She joins three other distinguished leaders from UAB who will be inducted during the ceremony in August. The Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made outstanding and enduring contributions to health care in the state.
“I am honored to be recognized along with other health care leaders from Alabama,” Shirey said. “This acknowledgement reinforces the fact that nurse leaders can have a meaningful impact on health care through innovation, education and compassionate care.”
Known as a master teacher and strong proponent of faculty and staff development and engagement to promote student success, Shirey is committed to building the nursing workforce in Alabama and beyond. Shirey has been Dean of the UAB School of Nursing, Alabama’s highest ranked nursing school for academics and research, since 2022 and has been with the school since 2013.
Shirey’s nursing career has spanned more than 40 years, beginning as a bedside cardiovascular critical care nurse and quickly progressing to senior leadership ranks in practice and academia at several health care organizations. Her research focus includes authentic leadership in nursing as well as the development of interprofessional collaborative practice models to advance care access and health equity for vulnerable populations with chronic diseases. Her interprofessional point of view has allowed her to bring to UAB extramural funding of more than $20 million since 2013. She has been awarded three U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration training grants to establish the now sustained Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for Adults (HRTSA) Clinic in collaboration with UAB Medicine, and to help improve health outcomes in medically underserved areas across the state.
In 2025, she was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. That same year, she was selected for the American Academy of Nursing Finance Committee for the 2025-27 term, reflecting her valuable experience and expertise.
Shirey also has been named a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, Academy of Nursing Education, American Academy of Nursing, and American College of Healthcare Executives. In 2019, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership recognized Shirey with its Nurse Researcher Award for her career contributions to advancing leadership and health systems science, and she received the inaugural Suzanne Smith Memorial Award for Scholarly Writing Excellence from the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing in 2016.