Dr. Carnegie was an educator and author in the field of nursing, known for breaking down racial barriers. She was the first black nurse to serve as a voting member on the board of a state nursing association. She was later president of the American Academy of Nursing and edited the Journal of Nursing Research.

In 2008 in her will, Dr. Carnegie created a Nurses Educational Funds Scholarship explicitly for black nurses enrolled in doctoral programs.

Each year Nurses Educational Funds, (NEF), awards the M. Elizabeth Carnegie African American Scholarship.  The 2022 and 2023 NEF scholars receiving this scholarship were Jessica Arter in 2023 and Brenice Duroseau in 2022.

NEF Scholar Jessica Arter is a Ph.D. student at The University of Alabama and The University of Alabama in Huntsville Joint Nursing Science Ph.D. Program, where her research focuses on investigating the barriers to pediatric healthcare access from a minority parent/caregiver perspective. Please read her complete biography at:
https://www.n-e-f.org/scholars/winners.html

Brenice Duroseau is a PhD student at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, focusing on community informed interventions to enrich the sexual reproductive health of Black women, while simultaneously makings strides to end the HIV epidemic, through culturally appropriate treatment and prevention efforts.  Please read her complete bio and recent achievements in her full biography at :
https://www.n-e-f.org/scholars/winners/brenice-duroseau.html

As the online AAHN Resource reports, " Dr. Carnegie she was remembered fondly as a tireless leader in obtaining quality education and full recognition for the contributions of African American nurses. She graciously served as a mentor to generations of African American nurse leaders. In any open discussion of history presentations, she unfailingly alerted the audience to what African American nurses were doing in the area under discussion. She actively participated in AAHN up to the last year of her life."
She is credited with writing 85 articles including editorials in 30 journals, chapters and forewords to 20 books; she delivered over 400 speeches between 1943 and 2008.
Mary Elizabeth Carnegie's leadership in nursing education and in breaking down racial barriers continues to motivate and inspire nurses.