News Around the School: New Dean’s Advisory Board formed for School of Nursing

VUSN friend and alumni in a meeting room while Sr. Associate Dean Mavis Schorn presents

Corporate executives, chief nursing officers, entrepreneurs, nursing school deans, alumni and community representatives are among the leaders sharing their expertise on a new advisory board for Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Dean Linda D. Norman, DSN, FAAN, announced the formation of the board during the school’s Reunion events in October.
The VUSN Dean’s Advisory Board will provide high-level advice to the dean and the school’s leadership team through strategic analysis and guidance in support of VUSN’s mission and trajectory.

Chaired by Norman, the 23-member volunteer board will meet biannually for a state-of-the-school discussion and working session.

“I’m honored and thrilled to have the input and vision of this accomplished group of advisers,” said Norman, the Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing. “We will benefit from their significant expertise, diverse perspectives and invaluable skills as the school moves ahead on key strategic initiatives. I look forward to their input on how to advance the School of Nursing in areas such as reputation, research, education, practice and funding.”

Members of the Dean’s Advisory Board are: Sallie B. Bailey, former executive vice president and CFO, LP Building Products; Angela Becker, MSN’95, alumna and community leader; Craig A. Becker, president and CEO, Tennessee Hospital Association; Ashley Bernard, MSN’15, DNP’17, alumna and APRN, Centennial Medical Center; Robert C. Blakey, MSN’95, DNP’10, alumnus and retired nurse practitioner; Velinda Block, MSN’89, alumna and division chief nurse executive, HCA TriStar Division; Judith Bright, BSN’87, alumna, CEO/designer, Judith Bright Jewelry; Tom Christenbery, MSN’87, PhD’04, alumnus and professor, VUSN; Stuart D. Downs, MSN’10, DNP’13, alumnus, vice president and chief operating officer, WellStar Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center–South; Marilyn Dubree, MSN’76, alumna and executive chief nursing officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Kate FitzPatrick, DNP’12, alumna and system senior vice president of nursing, Jefferson Health; Dorrie K. Fontaine, Sadie Heath Cabaniss professor emerita and dean emerita at the University of Virginia School of Nursing; Beth Colvin Huff, BSN’74, MSN’79, alumna and community leader; LaGaunda Jones, DNP’19, cardiology services nurse manager and acting chief nurse, medical specialty nursing, Atlanta VA Healthcare System; Dana Oman, MEd’94, alumna (Peabody) and community leader; Rosemary Plorin, president and CEO, Lovell Communications Inc.; Randolph Rasch, MSN’79, alumnus and dean, Michigan State University College of Nursing; Gloria Rothenberg, BS’17, MSN’18, alumna and transplant coordinator nurse practitioner, Montefiore Medical Center; Cecile Lanier Scanlan, BSN’86, MSN’92, alumna and community leader; Karen Schumacher, BSN’71, alumna and professor, School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco; Karen Springer, executive vice president, performance optimization and nursing operations, Ascension; Charleen Tachibana, DNP’14, alumna, senior vice president, quality and safety, and chief nursing officer, Virginia Mason Health System; and Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, vice president for health equity, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and executive director, Meharry–Vanderbilt Alliance.

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