Terry Fulmer
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced that Terry Fulmer is the recipient of the 2026 Gustav O. Lienhard Award for Advancement of Health Care, in recognition of her leadership in advancing health care for older adults. The award, which honors Fulmer’s achievements with a medal and $40,000, will be presented at the NAM’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 18. Fulmer is adjunct professor of medicine, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, and president emerita of the John A. Hartford Foundation.
Fulmer’s leadership in geriatrics and nursing has resulted in transformations that made care safer and more centered on what matters to millions of older patients. Her visionary and wide-ranging work brought about a number of interventions that have led to meaningful changes in care and policy, including in nursing home quality, palliative care, dementia care, fall prevention, support for family caregivers, intervention in elder abuse, and nursing workforce development.
Notably, Fulmer envisioned and developed the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, which puts the priorities and preferences of older patients at the center of their care. It has rapidly become a catalyst for spreading the most important principles of geriatric care nationwide and internationally. The movement was first launched in 2016 with partners across the health care system and has expanded to more than 4,800 hospitals, practices, and nursing homes serving more than 4.6 million older adults.
Also known as the “4 M’s Framework,” the Age-Friendly Health Systems approach ensures that care for older adults aligns with what matters most to an individual patient, ensures safe and appropriate use of medications, addresses cognition and mental health, and enhances mobility. This framework has been embraced by clinicians and health systems across the country to overcome the persistent barriers to delivering care that have stymied geriatric care for decades.
Fulmer has had a profound impact on nursing home care. She was a powerful and early voice in spurring actions to support both nursing home residents and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, launching the Rapid Response Network for Nursing Homes, and advocating for additional support from policymakers. The White House appointed her to serve on the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes, from which she launched emergency training sessions with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to assist nursing homes as they struggled with infections and deaths. Fulmer also initiated the Moving Forward Nursing Home Coalition, which implements action plans that prioritize health and quality of life for nursing home residents and staff.
Within the field of nursing, Fulmer has transformed education and nurse-led care. She developed Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders, a nurse-led quality improvement program. She was the first nurse to serve on the board of the American Geriatrics Society and as president of the Gerontological Society of America, and she has brought her unique perspective as a geriatric nursing expert to federal health care policy and programs through her service on advisory committees for the National Institute on Aging and Veterans Health Administration, among others.
“Dr. Fulmer is an example of the powerful and lasting change that clinicians who truly care for their patients can bring about,” said NAM President Monica M. Bertagnolli. “From her early recognition of the problems older adults face and what nursing staff can do to address them, to her pioneering focus on putting older adults’ needs first in health care at-scale, and her enduring leadership in transforming geriatric care, Dr. Fulmer is highly deserving of this award.”
Fulmer is the 41st recipient of the Gustav O. Lienhard Award for Advancement of Health Care. Given annually, the award recognizes outstanding national achievement in improving personal health care in the United States. Nominees are eligible for consideration without regard to education or profession, and award recipients are selected by a committee of experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine. This year’s selection committee was chaired by Serpil Erzurum, executive vice president, chief research and academic officer, and chair of the Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic.
The Lienhard Award is funded by an endowment from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gustav O. Lienhard was chair of the foundation’s board of trustees from the organization’s establishment in 1971 to his retirement in 1986 — a period in which the foundation moved to the forefront of American philanthropy in health care. Lienhard, who died in 1987, built his career with Johnson & Johnson, beginning as an accountant and retiring 39 years later as its president.
