Nola J. Pender (1941– present) is a nursing theorist who developed the Health Promotion Model in 1982. She is also an author and a professor emeritus of nursing at University of Michigan. She started studying health-promoting behavior in the mid-1970s and first published the Health Promotion Model in 1982. Her Health Promotion Model indicates preventative health measures and describes the critical function of nurses in helping patients prevent illness by self-care and bold alternatives. Pender has been named a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing.