Littlefield Leadership Lectures
Out of the Shadow: Why Nursing Must Lead AI, Not Follow
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already shaping who governs health care decisions—what gets trusted, flagged, or overridden—often before nursing’s voice is built into that design. Used well, AI can accelerate nursing research, surface patterns no single nurse could see, and advance precision care for nursing’s future, putting decades of clinical knowledge to work at scale. Used carelessly, it can encode bias, erode professional judgment, and quietly shift authority over data, credentialing, and licensure away from the nursing profession. What do we need to know?
Dr. Roy L. Simpson makes an unapologetic case for innovation: This technology will not wait for nursing’s permission to reshape the profession. It is already transforming care delivery at the bedside and even the patients we serve. The cost of being out of alignment, undertrained in data interpretation, or simply disengaged is real. And in the end, the algorithm doesn’t decide what’s true for the patient—the patient does; nursing’s job is to meet them there with the tools and knowledge to achieve the best health possible.
Dr. Simpson will explore these areas as the 2026 Littlefield Leadership Lecture presenter, providing language and strategies to advocate that nursing expertise and judgment decide what AI becomes in their organizations.
Join Us for the 27th Annual Littlefield Leadership Lecture
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Lecture starts at 5 p.m. (CDT), followed by a reception
701 Highland Avenue
Signe Skott Cooper Hall
Madison, WI 53705
Livestream option is available
About the Presenter
Roy L. Simpson is a Professor and Assistant Dean of Education for Data Science at Emory University School of Nursing. With a faculty appointment in the doctoral program, he teaches nursing and health informatics. He provides executive leadership to the Center for Data Science, which supports his research on big data focused on quality and safety in the electronic health record along with information technology.
He brings forward lifelong experience as an executive nurse in roles of increasing executive responsibilities in industry and practice with a lens of applied informatics. He has more than 45 years’ experience of engagement in the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and now prestigious fellowship in the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) along with 600 published articles, three books, patents, and numerous chapters and presentations on nursing informatics and professional leadership.
His depth and breadth of knowledge of the continuum of informatics derives from a diverse experience in the practice of informatics, with a lens of strategic impact on our patients.
About the Littlefield Leadership Lectures
Annual Littlefield lectures highlight nurse leaders and reflect the complexity of health care, changing and aging populations, scientific discoveries, innovations, and more. The lectures are valued by researchers, educators, practitioners, students, and our partners in the health care community and beyond.
Inspired and supported by the Friends of Littlefield, the Littlefield Leadership Lecture is named after Dean Emerita Vivian Littlefield, who led the UW–Madison School of Nursing from 1984 through 1999.
Dean Littlefield’s attendance at the lectures was a cherished opportunity to reconnect with her network of dear friends and colleagues. Since her death in August 2023, she is missed but remembered for her dedication to improving health through research, education, practice, and policy.
We thank the Friends of the Littlefield Leadership Lecture series for their ongoing support of this annual event, which reflects the School’s mission and vision.“