Margaret P. Moss

Dr. Margaret P. Moss is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota- the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. She has equal lineage in a Dakhóta First Nation. Her traditional name is Medicine Robe. Dr. Moss is the first and only American Indian to hold both Nursing and Juris Doctorates. She has been a nurse for 33 years and an academic for 22 years across 4 universities including the University of Minnesota, Yale University, SUNY Buffalo and currently at the University of British Columbia, where she is a Professor in the School of Nursing. She has held and holds leadership positions concurrent with her faculty position, including, Interim Associate Vice President Equity & Inclusion and Director, First Nations House of Learning. While there she began the first Indigenous student collegium and has been instrumental in expanding the physical facility to allow more access and programming for UBC’s Indigenous community. 

Dr. Moss was one of only 2 Indigenous women named to the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List, 2021. She was elected to the American Academy of Nursing’s Board 2021 and sits on a Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). She is currently on a study committee at NASEM for a review of how Federal policies (US) contribute to racial and ethnic health inequities. She is asked to speak often on Indigenous, health, aging, diversity and policy issues with academics, health professionals and other groups nationally and internationally. Dr. Moss published an award-winning text, American Indian Health and Nursing (2015) followed by Health Equity and Nursing (2020) as lead editor. She co-led the development and launch of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (2020) with interest and uptake around the world and across Canada. Dr. Moss was on the team led by Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond for the BC Minister of Health resulting in the seminal report- In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care. This report has also had wide appeal and interest across Canada. Dr. Moss moved to Vancouver in 2018 with her husband Willie and has enjoyed the beauty and vibrancy of the place.