Afaf Ibrahim Meleis (born 1942) is an Egyptian-American nurse-scientist, researcher, and medical sociologist. She is a Professor of Nursing and Sociology and Dean Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served from 2002 through 2014. This followed her 34-year tenure as a nursing faculty professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Early life and education Meleis was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. Her mother was a prominent nurse in Egypt, having been the first nurse to earn MPH and PhD degrees at an Egyptian university. Her mother went on to establish undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at several Egyptian universities (including Alexandria University), numerous post-high school nursing educational programs around the Persian Gulf, and her own clinic as a nurse-midwife. Meleis has recounted that her mother’s work ethic and passion for nursing, as well as listening to the life experiences of the patients at the clinic from a young age, were instrumental in shaping her own career trajectory. Meleis graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing magna cum laude from Alexandria University in 1961. She then came to the US as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow to advance her education, earning a Master of Science in Nursing (1964), a Master of Arts in Sociology (1966) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medical and Social Psychology (1968) from UCLA. She was engaged to Mahmoud Meleis when she left Egypt, and after two years apart, convinced Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to allow him to join her in the United States. They both completed their PhDs at UCLA, Mahmoud’s in nuclear engineering, before moving together to San Francisco. Career Meleis is an expert on women and immigrant healthcare, global health, Transitions Theory, and nursing knowledge. She joined the Board of Directors of the International Council on Women’s Health Issues (ICOWHI) in 1998 and was elected President of ICOWHI in 2000. Though she has since stepped down from the position, she continued as an active member, representative during Congresses (Botswana in 2008, Australia in 2006, and Brazil in 2015), and contributor to published news updates for decades following. University of California, San Francisco Meleis worked as an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Nursing from 1968 to 1971. After moving to San Francisco in 1971, she became assistant dean at the UCSF School of Nursing. She then assumed the