Marilyn Sawyer Sommers PhD, RN, FAAN Dr. Sommers is the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her bachelors degree in nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, her masters degree in nursing education from New York University, and her PhD in nursing science with a minor in human physiology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She received postdoctoral training as a Faculty Fellow through the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism from 1990-1994 at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Sommers had 15 years of experience as a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, and nurse administrator in the areas of critical care and trauma.