Sally Rankin, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor Emeritus | UCSF School of Nursing
The UCSF Center for Global Nursing is honored to recognize Sally Rankin, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emeritus at the UCSF School of Nursing, whose leadership, along with that of Drs. Afaf Meleis and Bill Holzemer, pioneered global nursing at UCSF.
Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Rankin has advanced nursing research, education, leadership, and global health partnerships. She previously served as Associate Dean for International Programs and Global Health, Director of the UCSF World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Nursing, Chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing, and Interim Dean of the UCSF School of Nursing. She also held the MacArthur Foundation Chair in Global Health Nursing at UCSF from 2014–2019.
Dr. Rankin's international nursing and global health work has spanned multiple regions of the world. Over the course of her career, she has taught, consulted, and conducted research in Australia, Japan, and multiple European countries, while developing particularly sustained partnerships in Malawi and contributing to collaborative initiatives connecting Malawi, Zambia, and the United States.
Malawi has been a defining focus of Dr. Rankin's global health work for more than two decades. Beginning her work in Malawi in 2000 and conducting research there since 2001, she has led and collaborated on initiatives addressing HIV prevention and care, implementation science, nursing workforce development, nursing education, mentorship, and health systems strengthening. Her work has included National Institutes of Health-funded research on HIV prevention and care and a five-year USAID-supported initiative to strengthen Malawi's nursing workforce.
Dr. Rankin's commitment to strengthening nursing in Malawi has extended beyond research. Through longstanding collaboration with the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA), she contributed to nursing education, scholarships, mentorship, and workforce development. She later co-founded Global Action to Improve Nursing and Midwifery (GAIN) with Dr. Kimberly Baltzell, developing an approach to longitudinal nursing education and mentorship that began in Malawi and has since expanded to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Her global health leadership has also supported reciprocal learning across countries. Dr. Rankin co-directed a US State Department-funded interprofessional exchange connecting health professionals in Malawi, Zambia, and the United States to share approaches to addressing health disparities and caring for marginalized and underserved populations.
Dr. Rankin also shaped how UCSF prepares nurses to engage in global health. Her experiences working with students and faculty in Malawi contributed to the development of the former UCSF School of Nursing's Global Health Minor, designed to better prepare students for meaningful and responsible engagement in global health. She was also the founder of the former UCSF School of Nursing's Center for Global Health, established to strengthen collaboration across the School and with international nursing programs and help prepare a global nursing workforce.
Across decades of research, education, mentorship, and partnership, Dr. Rankin has strengthened nursing capacity, prepared future global nurse leaders, and elevated nursing's role in global health at UCSF and internationally. Her leadership established a foundation for global nursing at UCSF that continues to inform opportunities for nurses to learn, collaborate, conduct research, and contribute to stronger health systems around the world.