April 10, 2025
Brother Ignatius Perkins, O.P., Ph.D., R.N.
Founding Director, St. Martin de Porres, O.P. Center for Health and Human Dignity
Honorary Doctor of Nursing
A leader in nursing education for more than 60 years, Brother Ignatius Perkins, O.P., Ph.D., R.N., is founding director of the St. Martin de Porres, O.P. Center for Health and Human Dignity and professor of nursing in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Providence College. He was instrumental in writing the curriculum for the college’s nursing major, provided guidance during the college’s successful application before the Rhode Island Board of Nursing Registration and Nurse Education in 2023, and served as inaugural chair of the Department of Nursing.
In September 2024, the National League for Nursing honored Brother Perkins with a newly created, once-in-a-generation award, the President’s Lifetime Achievement for Transformative Excellence Award. It recognized a career marked by leadership, education, and ethical advocacy. Brother Perkins is widely published and known for his advocacy in assisting clinicians and supporting vulnerable members of society — the poor, homeless, elderly, differently-abled, victims and survivors of abuse, and the terminally ill — protecting and defending their dignity, freedom, and human flourishing.
Before joining PC, Brother Perkins was consultant in nursing education and healthcare ethics and professor emeritus in the School of Nursing at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, where he served as dean of the College of Health and Natural Sciences and twice as chair of the nursing school. He was dean of the nursing school at Aquinas College in Nashville and nursing chair at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati.
Brother Ignatius was director of health services in his religious community, among other leadership positions. He founded the Center for Assisted Living in Washington, D.C., was executive director of the Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York, and was executive vice president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston.
Brother Perkins is an affiliated scholar in the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. He is a member of the National League for Nursing, American Nurses Association, National Association of Catholic Nurses, International Association of Catholic Bioethicists, and Catholic Medical Association. He is a fellow of the National League for Nursing, American Academy of Nursing, New York Academy of Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine, and the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Brother Perkins has a doctorate and a master’s of degree in nursing from The Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in education from Spalding University.
