Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP, is Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was dean from 1982 through 1997. She is also adjunct professor, Department of Geriatrics, Ichan School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Georgetown University), an MS in psychiatric & mental health nursing (The Ohio State University), a PhD in nursing (New York University), and an MBA (CWRU). In 1990, Dr. Fitzpatrick received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Georgetown University. In 2011, she received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Frontier University of Nursing in Hyden, Kentucky. She was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) (1981) and a Fellow in the National Academies of Practice (1996).

She received the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award 20 times; the Midwest Nursing Research Society Distinguished Contribution to Nursing Research Award; The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumna Award; Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Founders Award for Excellence in Nursing Research; and New York University Division of Nursing Distinguished Alumna Award. In 1994 & 1995 she was the AAN/American Nurses Foundation (ANF)/ Institute of Medicine Distinguished Scholar, and in 1995 she was a Primary Care Fellow through the Bureau of Health Professions. Dr. Fitzpatrick received the ANF Distinguished Contribution to Nursing Science Award for sustained commitment and contributions to development of the discipline (2002). Recent awards include STTI Lucie Kelly Mentor Award (2003); STTI Founders Award for Leadership (2005); Fulbright Scholar at University College Cork, Cork, Ireland (2007-2008); Midwest Nursing Research Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2010); INANE Editors Award (2013); and STTI Research Hall of Fame Induction (2014). In 2016 she was named a Living Legend of the AAN.

Dr. Fitzpatrick is widely published in nursing and health care literature with over 300 publications, including more than 80 authored/edited books. She served as co-editor of the Annual Review of Nursing Research series, vols. 1-26, and she currently edits the journals Applied Nursing Research, Archives of Psychiatric Nursing and Nursing Education Perspectives, the official journal of the National League for Nursing. She edited three editions of the classic Encyclopedia of Nursing Research.