Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Doris Grinspun

RN, BScN, MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), DHC, DHC, FAAN, FCAN, O.ONT  [email]

Dr. Doris Grinspun is Chief Executive Officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in the province of Ontario, Canada’s largest jurisdiction. RNAO’s mandate is to advance healthy public policy and the role of registered nurses and nurse practitioners. Grinspun assumed this position in 1996. She is the founder and visionary of RNAO’s internationally renowned Best Practice Guidelines Program and a leading figure in Canadian and international health and nursing policy.

From 1990 to 1996, Grinspun served as Director of Nursing at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. She has also worked in practice and administrative capacities in Israel and the United States. Grinspun, who was born in Chile, has an RN diploma from Hadassah School of Nursing in Jerusalem, Israel; a baccalaureate degree in nursing and organizational behavior from Tel Aviv University, Israel; a master of science in nursing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; and a PhD from the Department of Sociology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Grinspun is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa School of Nursing, and Associate Fellow of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) at York University. Grinspun was a member of the board of directors of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) from 2013–2017. She has served on several Sigma task forces and committees and is a proud Virginia Henderson Fellow.

For over three decades, Grinspun has led many international programs in Latin and Central America, China, Australia, and Europe. Having published and spoken extensively in Canada and abroad, she is a forceful advocate of Canada’s universal health system and the contribution of registered nurses and nurse practitioners to its success. Her expertise is in the areas of health, health care, and nursing.

Grinspun appears frequently in the media and at the Ontario legislature, advancing nursing, health, social policy, and evidence-based practices. She has been featured in major media outlets and publications for her bold, compelling, and visionary leadership. Examples include North of the City (Ontario, 2004); National Review of Medicine (Canada, 2004); GP Provincial Profile (Ontario, 2005); Pace International (Australia, 2005); Factor Hispano (2006); Nursing Economic$ (USA, 2010); Jewish Tribune (Canada, 2013); El Pais (Spain, 2014); La Vanguardia (Spain, 2012, 2014); and various newspapers, conventional and social media outlets in Canada, Chile, Peru, and Spain.

Throughout her career, Grinspun has received numerous professional and scholarly awards. In 2003, she was invested by the government of Ontario with the Order of Ontario, in recognition of the highest level of individual excellence and achievement in any field. In 2010, the Canadian Hispanic Business Association named her one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians. In 2011, Grinspun was conferred the degree of doctor of laws honoris causa by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. In 2012, she received the Nursing Leadership Award from Sigma’s Lambda Pi at-Large Chapter. Also in 2012, Grinspun was the recipient of the Nursing Leadership Award from the Canadian College of Health Leaders. In 2013, she received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2017, she was conferred the Lampara Florencia Nightingale (Lamp of Florence Nightingale) by the Colegio de Enfermeros de Peru (College of Nurses of Peru). Also in 2017, she was declared Distinguished Visitor Municipalidad de Tacna, Peru, and conferred with Tacna’s City Medal. In 2018, Grinspun was the first nurse ever to be bestowed a doctor honoris causa by the Universitat de Lleida - Spain. That same year, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. More recently, Grinspun was presented in 2020 with the American Academy of Nursing’s prestigious COVID-19 Courage Award in Policy, which honours the incredible contributions she has made to save lives, advance health equity, and protect communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, in November 2020, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing. In September 2022, Grinspun was honoured by the University of Michigan School of Nursing with the Career Lifetime Achievement Award. In October 2022, Dr. Grinspun was honoured as Dr. Honouris Causa from the Universidad de Burgos in Spain.