PEMBROKE (April 20, 2023) – At a time when North Carolina is struggling to solve its shortage of nurses, it’s fitting that the UNC Board of Governors chose to honor a pioneer nursing instructor.

The UNC System governing board awarded the 2022 James E. Holshouser, Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Service this morning to Dr. Cherry Maynor Beasley of UNC Pembroke, a passionate advocate for health care in rural and underserved parts of North Carolina.

The award, named for former governor Jim Holshouser, is designed to “encourage, identify, recognize and reward public service by employees of the University.”

“It is simply who I am,” Beasley said through tears as she accepted the award.

Beasley’s career has taken her to multiple UNC institutions. She earned her master’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill and her PhD from East Carolina University, making her the first Lumbee to earn a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in nursing. She has taught at both NC Central University and UNC Chapel Hill.

And in 1992, after eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve Nursing Corps, as a school nurse and as an investigator for the Office of Minority Health, she became the first professor in UNC Pembroke’s nursing program. She was given the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017.

She is described as a prolific researcher, focusing on Lumbee issues such as child development and breast cancer. In 2020, she was named a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, one of the profession’s highest honors. And today she is UNCP’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“The impact Dr. Beasley has made on this region is immeasurable,” UNC Pembroke Chancellor Robin Cummings said in a prepared statement.

With her education, expertise and work ethic, “She could have succeeded anywhere,” Cummings says in the accompanying video. “But like many people in this area, she chose to come home and use her talents for this area.”

Cummings notes that Robeson County faces significant health disparities.

State Sen. Gale Adcock, D-Wake – a nurse practitioner herself – credits Beasley with securing funds for two mobile clinics for UNC Pembroke to conduct Covid screening and administer vaccines during the pandemic.

“She’s had probably as much or more impact on the long-term health of the Lumbee Nation in Robeson County than anybody else,” Adcock says.

UNC System President Peter Hans said that through her work, Beasley is “an example of how our universities nourish the health of North Carolinians in the farthest reaches of our state. In an era of nursing shortages and other enormous challenges to public health, Dr. Beasley brings hope and light to her community.“

Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey noted that Beasley came home to serve the people of Robeson County.

“Her commitment to teaching, research and mentorship shows a deep passion for the wellbeing and development of her community – an attitude that represents the very heart of our University’s mission,” Ramsey said.