Bobbie Berkowitz Named School of Nursing's New Dean

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Lee Goldman, Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, today sent the following message to the University community: "We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, FAAN, as the new dean of the Columbia University School of Nursing. She succeeds Dr. Mary O'Neil Mundinger, whose outstanding 24-year tenure as Dean has been noteworthy for setting a new standard in nursing education. Among the many achievements under her leadership were the establishment of two doctoral degree programs, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and the Doctor of Nursing Science PhD. In 1995, Dr. Mundinger was named the Centennial Professor in Health Policy at the School of Nursing, the first chair of health policy in a nursing school nationwide. We are enormously grateful for her service to Columbia." Dr. Berkowitz's appointment as Dean of the School of Nursing, as the Mary O'Neil Mundinger, DrPH Professor of Nursing, and as Senior Vice President at Columbia University Medical Center will be effective Sept. 1, 2010. Dr. Berkowitz, a distinguished leader in nursing and public health, comes to us from the University of Washington, where she is the Alumni Endowed Professor of Nursing, adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and previously served as chair of the Department of Psychosocial and Community Health. Dr. Berkowitz led the National Program Office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Turning Point Initiative as director and principal investigator. Prior to joining the University of Washington, Dr. Berkowitz held leadership positions in both state and local government, as deputy secretary in the Washington State Department of Health, and as chief of nursing for the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health.

Dr. Berkowitz received her PhD in nursing science from Case Western Reserve University and her Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in nursing from the University of Washington. She is an elected member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine, a member of the board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, an elected fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, as well as a member of the Academy's Board of Directors. Dr. Berkowitz currently chairs the board of trustees of Group Health Cooperative. In addition to serving on the board for several journals, she also is the author of books on public health nursing leadership, nursing management, and communications in health care organizations.

Dr. Berkowitz's research focuses on health policy and public health system reform, primarily at the state level, as well as systems-level efforts to eliminate health disparities. Her scholarship is directly informed by her rich firsthand knowledge of the politics of policy creation and implementation, as well as by her experience in building public health systems.

"We would like to express our appreciation to the search committee, led by Dr. Andrew Davidson, for its outstanding work in identifying an exceptional new dean. Please join us in welcoming Bobbie Berkowitz to the Columbia community."

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