Dr. Pender is Professor Emeritus in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She was Associate Dean for Research from 1990 to 2001. In this role, she focused on facilitation of external funding of faculty research, support of emerging centers of research excellence in the School of Nursing, promotion of interdisciplinary research efforts, development of mechanisms for translating research into science-based practice, and linking nursing research to the formulation of health policy. The UM School of Nursing attained the highest level of external research funding in its history under her leadership. Further, the School was funded for the Child and Adolescent Health Behavior Research Center by the National Institute of Nursing Research in 1991. Dr. Pender served as the Program Director for this Center which focused on fostering healthy lifestyles among children, adolescents and their families.

Dr. Pender developed the Health Promotion Model that is proposed as a holistic predictive model of health-promoting behavior for use in research and practice. This model has been tested internationally with varying health behaviors. The research instruments developed by Dr. Pender and her colleagues are used in many countries and have been translated into Spanish, Japanese and Korean. Dr. Pender has published many research articles. Her current research focuses on testing the efficacy of a computerized physical activity counseling program for preadolescent and adolescent girls.

Dr. Pender has authored a widely used text entitled, Health Promotion in Nursing Practice, (4th edition) which received the ANA Book of the Year Award for contributions to community health nursing. She has served as distinguished scholar at a number of universities. She received the distinguished alumni award from Michigan State University and holds an honorary doctoral degree from Widener University for her contributions to nursing research and health promotion. She received the Distinguished Research Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society for her contributions to research and research leadership and the American Psychological Association Award for outstanding contributions to nursing and health psychology. In 1998, she was honored by the School of Nursing with the Mae Edna Doyle award for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Pender is a past-president of the American Academy of Nursing and has also served as president of the Midwest Nursing Research Society. She served as a charter member of the National Advisory Council on Nursing Research. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Research!America, an organization committed to increasing public support for health research. In 1998, she was appointed to a four-year term on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of preventive health experts charged to evaluate the scientific evidence for a range of clinical preventive services and make age-specific and risk-specific recommendations for these services. She serves on the Executive Committee of "Building Health Promotion into the National Agenda."

Dr. Pender consults nationally and internationally in health promotion and nursing research. She has consulted in Japan, Korea, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, England, New Zealand and Mexico.

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