Committee names finalists for nursing dean

The School of Nursing dean search and screen committee has named two finalists, presenting its recommendations to Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf last Friday.

The 13-member committee, chaired by nursing Professor Barbara Bowers, selected:

Linda Scott, associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Nursing, University of Illinois.

Linda A. Lewandowski, associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The new dean will succeed Katharyn May, who is stepping aside as dean after 15 years of service and will remain as a member of the faculty.

“We are excited about the talent and experience that each of these candidates would bring,” Bowers says. “Both candidates have a long list of impressive accomplishments in areas we believe will be important to the future of our school, to the health sciences and to the campus as a whole.”

Established in 1924, the school is the leading nursing research institution in Wisconsin. It is an integral academic partner with the School of Medicine and Public Health and the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, the American Family Children’s Hospital and the William Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital.

The nursing school has a long history of interdisciplinary research in health care and is taking the lead in interprofessional education. It has been ranked among the top 25 nursing programs in the U.S. for more than 15 years.

The dean, who reports to the chancellor through the provost, serves as the chief academic and executive officer of the school, with responsibility for faculty and staff development, personnel oversight, budget planning and management, research/curricular/student academic affairs, and fundraising.

Public presentations will be from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. in the Signe Skott Cooper Hall auditorium, with Lewandowski presenting on March 28 and Scott on March 29.

Employees may attend the talks in pay status, with supervisor permission, if the presentations fall during normal work hours. During these presentations, the finalists have been invited to lay out their vision for the role.

The candidates’ CVs are available on the search website.