About the Author

Dr. Ruth Tappen is the Christine E. Lynn Eminent Scholar in Nursing at Florida Atlantic University. She has a doctorate in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York and completed a postdoc in measurement at the College of Nursing, University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Tappen is an active researcher who has had continuous funding for research and educational projects for over 30 years. She has authored several books and published over 50 articles. She has served as a reviewer on a number of NIH panels including CBPR, SBIR and Research Ethics. She also served as acting Vice President for Research at Florida Atlantic University and was the founder of a thriving nurse-practitioner-based memory disorder center on Boca Raton campus which provided an opportunity to put research findings into practice. Her specialty area is gerontological nursing with an emphasis on transitional care, cognitive disorders, measurement and cross-cultural issues