Roberta Waite, EdD, was selected in 2010 as one of only two nurses nationwide for the first class of prestigious Josiah Macy Faculty Scholars, a program designed to identify and nurture the careers of promising educational innovators in medicine and nursing.

For her Faculty Scholars project, Waite created the Macy Undergraduate Leadership Fellows Program at Drexel. The for-credit leadership certificate program consists of three core courses and pairs each fellow with an accomplished mentor who is either on faculty or heads an organization in the community.

The Macy program focuses on developing leadership skills, ranging from mobilizing and leading teams to understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses. "To cultivate and prepare the next generation of students, we need to be very intentional," says Waite, who is a psychiatric and clinical mental health specialist in addition to a professor and assistant dean.

PROMOTING A CULTURE OF HEALTH

In August 2018, Waite was named director of the nurse-led Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services which delivers primary care, behavioral health, dental services and health and wellness programs to more than 6,000 adult patients annually.

Waite has been involved to varying degrees with 11th Street since 2005. "Our goal is to continue to engage our cross-sector partners in the community to promote a culture of health," Waite says.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

Despite her advanced degrees and many impressive accomplishments, Waite is not about to rest on her laurels. "Lifelong learning is critically important," she says. "Iʼm always open, because Iʼm always absorbing and learning from other people. As I learn about them, I actually gain more insights about myself. I truly believe the learning never stops."