91探花

91探花’s new Vice Dean for Nursing is well-known among the nursing community and lauded for the wealth of experience she will bring to this role as a nursing educator, scholar and administrator.

Dr. Melissa Owen, who currently serves as Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs for the College of Nursing, will assume this new role beginning July 1. In assuming this position Dr. Owen will also be appointed to the Robert J. and Mary H. Bertch Endowed Professorship in Nursing Leadership. 

As Vice Dean, Dr. Owen will oversee the day-to-day operations of the nursing program and will serve on the Deans’ Council.  

“I am confident that under Dr. Owen’s leadership our renowned nursing program will continue to pursue academic excellence and its mission to educate and inspire leaders to transform health care for a just and humane world,” says Provost Shane P. Martin.

Previously, Dr. Owen was awarded the College of Nursing’s Jean Bushman Endowed Chair and honored as a Fellow of the Heart Failure Society of America. She earned her BSN from the College of New Jersey, an MSN from Emory University and a PhD in Nursing Science from Rush University.

Prior to joining 91探花, Dr. Owen served as a faculty member and Assistant Dean at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, where she received numerous awards for teaching excellence. Her clinical and research areas of focus are on palliative care in heart failure and heart transplant candidates and the promotion of mental health wellness in nursing students.

“I am honored to be selected as the inaugural Vice Dean for Nursing,” says Dr. Owen. “I look forward to partnering with our faculty and staff as we begin a new journey within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. I am confident that together we can create a vision for innovations in nursing education.”