A racially and ethnically diverse cadre of nurse scientists is an imperative attribute of a robust profession that can lead in education and policy realms (Wakefield, Williams, Le Menestrel, and Flaubert, 2021). It is also an imperative when addressing health disparities and inequities. One path to addressing health inequities experienced by marginalized communities is to invest in the development of people who come from those communities and can deliver culturally and linguistically congruent care. To do this, our profession needs nursing faculty who can prepare the next generation of practitioners, scientists and leaders. While legacies of structural racism have sidelined prospects for many Black and African-American (hereafter referred to as Black) nurses to enrich the profession across settings and roles, the trajectories of Black PhD-prepared nurse scientists are particularly invisible (Drummond-Young et al., 2010; National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, 2022). Black nurse scientists often have unique educational, mentoring, and leadership development pathways to roles that build foundations for clinical practice and inform policy agendas in higher education, tertiary care settings, and research institutions.

Recent nursing faculty development literature has focused on initiatives that bolster programmatic support for existing scholars (Crooks, Smith, and Lofton, 2021), facilitating empowerment of early career faculty (Kennedy, Parish, & Brame, 2020), and promoting equity and inclusion as a workforce development initiative (Green, 2020; Smallheer et al., 2021; Thornton & Persaud, 2018). However, these strategies are largely focused on the development of faculty with primary responsibilities for educating pre-licensure students who will work in healthcare environments, paying little attention to the role of nurse scientist leaders (Miles & Scott, 2019; Salvage & White, 2019). Yet, the experiences of Black nurse scientist leaders are more notably absent (Baptiste et al., 2021; Cineas & Boyle Schwartz, 2022; Jefferies, Goldberg, Aston, & Tomblin Murphy, 2018). A greater understanding of Black nurse scientist's pathways can 1) facilitate development of the next generation of PhD-prepared Black nurse scientists, 2) foster knowledge aimed at correcting persistent health and educational inequities, and 3) improve diversity among future leaders of the nursing profession. We, therefore, contend that there is an urgent need to examine not only how Black nurse scientists thrive in academic environments but the educational road they traveled to arrive in these leadership roles.

According to McBride (2011), transformative leadership requires that one shape opinions and policies beyond that of nursing alone and that one attain an understanding of what nursing contributes to the world of science, develop a reputation and commitment for being competent and increasingly work in interdisciplinary forums. Leadership is defined broadly to include research, practice, education, policy, and entrepreneurship with two essential ingredients for actualizing this potential: Leadership and Innovation. Leadership is required to envision change, inspire others to engage, foster learning health systems, enact strategies for transformation, and deliver sustainable solutions. Innovation is required to generate new knowledge and imagine new ways to deliver care across settings and in collaboration with consumers, health care professionals, organizations, industry, policy makers and communities at large. As combined concepts, Leadership and Innovation can transform health systems and catalyze health policies that lead to health equity and improved health for the population. Nurse scientists, specifically Black and African-American nurse scientists, embody these attributes as they develop new knowledge and build strong teams (Cooke, Boutain, Banks, and Oakley, 2022). However, their unique journeys to becoming nurse scientist leaders are not well-known or understood.

In 2020, less than 1 % of the nursing workforce had earned a research doctorate (PhD) and the numbers of nurses earning a practice doctorate (DNP) was two times greater. In fact, PhD-prepared Black nurse scientists were a mere 1.1 % of the total Black nursing workforce while DNPs made up 2.2 % (Smiley et al., 2021). This presents challenges to the production of nursing knowledge and scholarship focused on unique health disparities experienced by Black individuals in our society (Aycock et al., 2021). An underrepresentation of Black nurses with a solid background in the theoretical and scientific underpinnings of nursing knowledge development limits our influence in curriculum design, teaching, and mentoring students in theory and research (Yancey, 2020). Nursing science cannot adequately address current and emerging issues for Black populations across the lifespan or prepare clinicians and design practice and policy to address emerging priorities (Aycock et al., 2021). Therefore, understanding successful pathways to PhD programs and science careers among Black nurses is essential for population health.

Almost one-quarter of Black students earning an undergraduate degree are enrolled at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) of which 32 have nursing programs - that serve as a formative launch pad and pipeline for nurse scientist development (Albritton, 2012; Aycock et al., 2021). To date, there are only three HBCUs with a PhD program in nursing science. Although HBCUs are often targets of racially-motivated intimidation (Lumpkin & Svrluga, 2022) and structurally racist policies that deprive students and families of equal funding and resources (Smith, 2021), leaders are borne from these environments (Albritton, 2012; Brathwaite, 1999; Noonan, Lindong, & Jaitley, 2013; Taylor, Watkins, Chesterton, Sean Kimbro, & Gerald, 2020). These unique educational spaces are tied to improved health trajectories among student attendees (Colen, Pinchak, & Barnett, n.d.) as well as a consistent pattern of community engagement that can reduce health inequities (Taylor et al., 2020). However, the role of HBCUs and strategies for supporting robust educational and mentor/training opportunities for Black PhD-prepared nurse scientists is an emerging discussion that requires thoughtful description and application.

The purpose of this article is to broaden understanding of nursing leadership development by examining the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and integrative professional journeys of four Black nurse scientists and HBCU graduates from the inaugural cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. An overview of the fellowship is described followed by narratives of the nurse scientists' experiences at HBCUs that catalyzed national thought leadership. We present insights into some of the facilitators and challenges to earning a PhD and developing sustainable programs of research for these four nurse scientists. The collective experiences highlight the excellent educational foundation and consequential opportunities provided by HBCUs and their potential to contribute to the future of nursing science. We also provide a synthesis of experiences that include challenges as well as triumphs foundational to ensuring resilience in competitive nursing academic environments. Finally, we provide recommendations to support development of Black nurse scientists as a priority strategy for strengthening scientific discovery, innovation, and leadership across fields of science.