Nursing alumnus Young “John” Yauger ’00 has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, one of the profession’s highest honors. Election to the academy recognizes nurses who have made sustained and significant contributions to health care through leadership, research, education and policy, and reflects Yauger’s twenty-five-year career, shaped by military service, academic rigor and a formative Marymount experience rooted in strong leadership and service.
Yauger attended Marymount University from 1996 to 2000, completing both an associate degree in nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing under the program’s former structure. Raised in a military family, he spent much of his childhood overseas, including several years in South Korea, where his father served as a licensed practical nurse in the U.S. Army. That experience played a central role in shaping his career path.
“I knew early on that I wanted to become a nurse,” Yauger said. “Watching my father serve showed me how meaningful that work could be, especially within the military.”
Through an Army-sponsored ROTC scholarship and the Partners in Nursing Excellence program, Yauger was directed to Marymount because of its strong nursing outcomes and reputation for preparing graduates for leadership.
Transitioning directly from Korea to Arlington, Virginia, presented challenges, including cultural adjustment and homesickness, but Yauger said those early experiences were formative.
“I was flying to DC from Asia, figuring things out on my own for the first time,” he said. “Those challenges helped shape my independence and resilience. In many ways, my time at Marymount shaped who I am today.”
Yauger described Marymount’s nursing program as academically rigorous and deeply personal. Small class sizes fostered close relationships with faculty, while the university’s work program allowed him to gain meaningful professional experience.
“Marymount instilled in me the importance of confidence with humility. You might be a brilliant nurse or healthcare professional, but you can’t reach your full potential if you focus only on yourself. My professors and mentors challenged me to grow while grounding me in reflection, ethics and service, pillars that have continued to shape my personal and professional life ever since.”
After graduating, Yauger entered active duty with the U.S. Army, beginning a career that spanned multiple clinical and leadership roles. He served in medical-surgical nursing, pediatrics, intensive care, and nurse anesthesiology before deploying several times following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, including service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Military service teaches you how to make decisions under pressure while always keeping people at the center. Those experiences, like my time at Marymount, informed how I lead and care for others.”
Upon his return to the States, Yauger pursued advanced practice training as a certified registered nurse anesthetist and went on to earn a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the Uniformed Services University, where his research focused on traumatic brain injury.
Yauger was later selected as a Service Chief Fellow with the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA), which provided him with the opportunity to engage directly with cutting-edge scientific innovation and contribute to technologies with global impact. After being asked to serve as the Executive Director of the TriService Nursing Research Program (TSNRP), the only nursing research program dedicated exclusively to nursing research and scholarly development in the Department of Defense, Yauger spent three years refocusing the organization on combat nursing and adopting cutting edge technologies.
“That role was pivotal in shaping the way I see leadership from a strategic level. The challenges I faced as a leader helped me to see how change is essential at all levels of an organization. You have to embrace change and let it carry you forward in order to find success.”
After retiring from the Army at the rank of colonel, Yauger was selected to serve as CEO of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Foundation, where he currently leads initiatives focused on research, education and scholarships to improve patient access to care and inform health policy.
His recent fellowship recognition honors not only his professional achievements but also his long-term commitment to mentoring and developing future nurse leaders.
“This fellowship represents the mentors and institutions that shaped me. It’s an opportunity to give back and invest in the next generation of nurses and scholars through policy and selfless leadership. Marymount helped me develop confidence rooted in humility and self-awareness which instilled in me a love for service. Now, I’m proud to be part of the Marymount alumni community that is making an impact in healthcare by shaping the future of healthcare leadership.”
Yauger encourages students to spend their formative years developing skills that will serve them in the future.
“The two most important skills I learned during my time at Marymount were balance and self-actualization. Understanding your strengths and limitations makes you a more effective leader and collaborator. Seek out mentors, surround yourself with people who model the values you aspire to and develop confidence rooted in humility and a willingness to learn. That kind of confidence, which Marymount helped me build, has served me well throughout my life and career.”
