Biography

Joy Wachs, KNLP-16, is Professor and Director, University and Midway Honors Scholars Programs at East Tennessee State University and Editor of Workplace Health & Safety. The Honors College at ETSU is home to 23 honors programs, international programs, the office of Undergraduate Research and external fellows. All honors scholars complete an undergraduate research thesis in their majors and distinguish their undergraduate careers through academic rigor and service to the university and the community. Prior to this position, Joy was Professor and Coordinator, Continuing Nursing Education and Honors-in-Nursing program at ETSU. Prior to 1993 when she joined the ETSU College of Nursing to work with the W.K. Kellogg-funded Community Partnerships program in Mountain City, Tennessee, she was Associate Professor and Director of the Associate Degree nursing program at Nicholls State University, assistant professor of nursing at UT-Memphis and corporate nurse for Schering-Plough Health Care Products. She earned her BSN from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, MSN from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and PhD in nursing science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was named a American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Fellow and was awarded the Lillian G. Carter Humanitarian Award in 2012.