General Hazel W. Johnson-Brown, PhD, RN, FAAN, Remembered

Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown was born on October 10, 1927 in West Chester, PA and died on August 5, 2011 in Wilmington, DE after a long illness. General Johnson-Brown was the first African-American woman to hold the rank of General in the U.S. Military Services and the first African American to hold the position of Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. 

After earning her nursing diploma at Harlem Hospital School of Nursing, General Johnson-Brown completed her BSN degree at Villanova University, earned a master’s degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University and her doctorate in educational administration from Catholic University. She was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by Villanova University, the University of Maryland, and Morgan State University. 

Her Army career began in 1955, and for the first 12 years she served in staff positions in hospitals across the country and abroad, and was twice named Army Nurse of the Year.  Her early leadership positions included research and development for Army field hospitals and Director of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing (WRAIN), a program that awarded students a BSN conferred by the University of Maryland. In June of 1978, she transferred to the Office of the Surgeon General, 8th Army Command and Chief Army Nurse in South Korea.  Following her Korean tour in 1979, she was selected to be the sixteenth Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. Military decorations included the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. She received the Distinguished Service Medal upon her retirement.

Following retirement from the Army, General Johnson-Brown became Director of the Division of Governmental Affairs at the American Nurses Association. She had a distinguished second career in academia, teaching in the graduate nursing program at George Mason University where she established and served as Director of the Center for Health Policy. Upon her retirement form George Mason, she was named Professor Emerita. She also served on the Villanova University Board of Trustees and was awarded the Villanova College of Nursing Medallion for distinguished achievement.  The College of Nursing at Villanova has established the Hazel Johnson Leadership Award which is given at Convocation.

Gen. Johnson-Brown was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Sigma Theta Tau and Chi Eta Phi Nursing sororities, the American Academy of Nursing and the American Nursing Association. She was a member of the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) board which established national standards of excellence in home health, hospice and community based health programs, and she received the Gold Medallion from The Chapel of the Four Chaplains. 

Over the last several years she has been in failing health and has lived in Wilmington, DE with her sister, Mrs. Gloria Smith.  She is survived by her sister Gloria, two brothers, John and Clarence, two nieces Joanne Thompson and Holly Johnson, and one nephew Casey Hauswith. She is predeceased by her parents Garnett H. and Clarence L. Johnson, Sr., her brother Arthur and sister, Marie.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to Compassionate Care Hospice in Wilmington, DE.  Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery.