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December 7, 2000

Search launched for dean of nursing

Pitt has launched its search for a new School of Nursing dean.

The search committee met for the first time on Nov. 22. It plans to submit the names of finalists for the dean's job to Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences, by the end of the spring term. Levine has said he hopes to have the new dean on board by fall.

Ellen Rudy, dean since 1991, plans to retire to Columbus, Ohio, after the current academic year to be closer to her family.

"We're casting a very broad net in searching for Ellen's successor," said search committee chairperson Patricia D. Kroboth, professor and chairperson of the School of Pharmacy's pharmaceutical sciences department.

Quoting from the job ad that Pitt recently began placing, Kroboth said the ideal candidate would be "an experienced nursing educator of international prominence, with a distinguished record of teaching, research and service."

She added, "We're looking for people with leadership skills who have demonstrated creativity in their thinking. Fundraising experience also will be important. The nursing school already has a couple of endowed chairs. We're hoping to find somebody who will build upon the fundraising success that the school has enjoyed under Ellen Rudy's leadership."

For the last four years, Pitt's school has ranked among the top 10 institutions in receiving National Institute for Nursing Research funds. A nationally recognized expert in nursing research, Rudy herself has been principal investigator on five National Institutes of Health-funded projects here.

"She will be a very tough act to follow," Senior Vice Chancellor Levine said in October, when Rudy announced her retirement plans.

Kroboth agreed. "Ellen made her mark on everything in that school, including its physical layout," she said. "I used to have an office in Victoria Hall [the nursing school's home] a number of years ago. Recently, I came back for a tour, and the changes and improvements were dramatic. We'd love to find a new dean with that same level of enthusiasm that Ellen has had."

Kroboth said the search committee will hold two hearings — one for the University community, the other limited to nursing school personnel — at dates to be announced. Nursing faculty and staff will have the opportunity to meet with dean finalists, she said.

In addition to Kroboth, the search committee includes: Thomas W. Braun, dean of the School of Dental Medicine and professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery; Willa Doswell, assistant professor of nursing; Natalie Dukeshire, representing undergraduate nursing students; Sandra Engberg, chairperson of the nursing school's health promotion and development department; graduate student representative Nadine Englert; assistant professor of nursing Richard Henker; Carol Hodgkiss, representing the Staff Association Council; Leslie Hoffman, chairperson of nursing's acute and tertiary care department (representing the school's full professors); Mildred Jones (representing assistant professors); Wishwa N. Kapoor, Falk Professor of Medicine, chief of the medical school's Division of General Internal Medicine and vice chairperson of the Department of Medicine; Susan Sereika, interim director of the Center for Nursing Research (representing associate professors); Kim Sutton-Tyrrell, associate professor of epidemiology in the Graduate School of Public Health; Susan VanCleve (representing instructors), and Gail Wolf, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, UPMC Health System.

Margaret C. McDonald, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs for Health Sciences, is the liaison from Senior Vice Chancellor Levine's office.

— Bruce Steele

Filed under: Feature,Volume 33 Issue 8

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