Tara A. Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN

Tara Cortes is currently the Executive Director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, and a Professor in Geriatric Nursing at the New York University College of Nursing. Prior to joining the NYU College of Nursing, Dr. Cortes was President and CEO of Lighthouse International. Dr. Cortes spent the initial phase of her career in nursing education at Hunter College, and then as the Head of Nursing Research and Information Systems at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. She was the Chief Nursing Officer at Rockefeller University Hospital and continued her career in nursing and hospital administration at Mount Sinai Medical Center and at Bridgeport Hospital, before assuming the senior leadership role at Lighthouse International. Her work has contributed to advancing interdisciplinary models across the continuum of care to reduce disparities in access to care, and to assure healthy aging in place.

Dr. Cortes is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. She is a Past Fellow of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program and of the APSA Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from New York University, where she completed her PhD and Masters degrees. Her BSN is from Villanova University, where she served on the Board of Trustees, and was awarded the Medallion for Outstanding Contributions to the Profession. She was named one of the New York Women’s Agenda STARS for exemplifying the qualities embodied in NYWA’s mission to advocate and collaborate for the interests of New York women in public policy decisions. Dr. Cortes serves on the HRSA Advisory Committee for Primary Care Training in Medicine and Dentistry. She also serves on several boards including Archcare, the Catholic Healthcare System of NY; Isabella Geriatric Center; and Pacific College.