Joan Burggraf Riley, FNP-BC, MSN, MS, an assistant professor at Georgetown University’s School of Nursing & Health Studies, Washington, D.C., was honored Nov. 19 as the 2009 District of Columbia Professor of the Year.

Riley was among 38 national winners honored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award, just as I am inspired by the intellectual curiosity and passion for learning of Georgetown students,” Riley said in a news release.

Riley was selected from a pool of faculty nominated by institutions throughout Washington. Nationally, more than 300 top professors were nominated. Four other professors received national awards for their work.

“I have known Joan for many years, and her commitment to the development and well-being of our undergraduates is a model for all of us in the academy,” Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said. “For more than 35 years, first as a student and now as a faculty member, Joan Riley has exemplified the ideals of Georgetown University. Without her, our community would be a far different and much less powerful place.”

Riley earned her BSN from Georgetown and her MSN from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

Riley and other faculty members incorporate mental health and wellness topics into universitywide coursework in the Bringing Theory to Practice Project, which has reached about 2,000 undergraduates

Riley also helped launch a new academic minor at Georgetown that focuses on the field of health promotion. She oversees the schoolwide first-year colloquium for all freshmen and teaches health promotion and disease prevention courses.

“Joan is always there for her students, and she rarely says no to their requests for help,” said Georgetown NHS Dean Bette Jacobs. “Joan fully appreciates and lives by Georgetown’s internationally recognized commitments to academic rigor and the promotion of social justice through community service.”