2005 News

CGFNS CEO Barbara L. Nichols Named to ANSI Board of Directors

PHILADELPHIA, PA — JUNE 8, 2005 — Barbara L. Nichols, DHL, MS, RN, FAAN, and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), an international authority on health care worker credentials evaluation and verification, has been named to the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). She also serves on ANSI’s Personnel Certification and Accreditation Committee. Dr. Nichols' term as a Director-at-Large of ANSI expires in 2007.

ANSI’s mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

Globally, ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

According to Dr. Mark W. Hurwitz, ANSI president and chief executive officer, Dr. Nichols will be an important addition to the organization’s board of directors. "Dr. Nichols' personal background, combined with CGFNS’s well-respected efforts in the fields of international health care credentialing and domestic health policy, will contribute greatly to ANSI as it seeks to fulfill its mission."

Dr. Nichols has served as Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS since 1998. In addition, she holds leadership positions in other professional organizations within the health care industry. Dr. Nichols serves as Vice Chair of the Public Health Commission for the City of Madison, Wisconsin, and is a member of the nursing faculty at Excelsior College, Albany, New York.

About CGFNS:
CGFNS is an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration and licensure of nurses and health care professionals worldwide. CGFNS is an immigration-neutral, nonprofit organization with nearly 30 years of experience in certifying the credentials of over 500,000 internationally educated nurses and other health care workers.

About ANSI:
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private, non-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Among its responsibilities, ANSI accredits national standards developing organizations and conformity assessment programs. ANSI also approves qualifying standards as American National Standards. The organization represents the interests of its nearly 1,000 company, organizational, government agency, and institutional members through its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and operations office in New York City.