Las Vegas — Dr. Lorna Harris, chairwoman of the North Carolina Central University nursing department, was recognized by her peers in the National Black Nurses Association last month.

Harris was inducted to the NBNA’s Institute of Excellence for her work as founder and director of the Historically Black College and Universities Health Promotion Alliance.

Harris has focused in her career on the role of nursing in the treatment of diseases that disproportionately impact minority communities.

“Of the 2.6 million nurses in the United States, approximately three percent are African-American, but 85 percent of NCCU’s nursing students are minority candidates,” said Harris. “So we are working hard to ensure that our students are successful, so that minority patients are able to see more nurses that look like them and can relate to them.”