Dr. Nowell Donovan, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Texas Christian University, announced today that Dr. Paulette Burns, former director of the Harris College of Nursing, is the new dean of the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Dr. Burns will begin her duties in the fall, taking over for Dr. Rhonda Keen-Payne who is returning to teaching.

Most of Dr. Burns' 35-year career has been in nursing education. Creating new opportunities in higher education for nurses has been her major focus. The TCU Master's of Science in Nursing degree program was launched in 2001, and an accelerated program for students with a previous degree began in 2004. The BSN program, established at TCU in 1946, has increased its student numbers by 40 percent. Dr. Burns is a founding member of the DFW Deans and Directors of Nursing Organization, the DFW Nursing Workforce Collaborative sponsored by the DFW Hospital Council, and the Texas Organization for Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Education.

Dr. Burns was honored as one of the “Great 100 Nurses” for 2006 by the Texas Nurses Association, districts three and four, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Nurses Executives. In 2005, she was named as one of 20 nurses in executive leadership roles nationwide selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow. The three-year fellowship, focused on leading the country's health care system into the 21st century, is in its eighth year and designed to strategically position the voice of nursing across many sectors of the economy in a health care system undergoing unprecedented change and challenges.

“Paulette has insight, vision and tenacity, a critical combination in a successful dean,” said Provost Donovan. “She understands that great teaching and substantive scholarship are a symbiotic partnership in a healthy college and I believe that she will continue and strengthen the partnership begun by her predecessor.”

Prior to coming to TCU in 2001, Dr. Burns was director of the Tulsa campus of the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing. She received the Educator of the Year Award from the Oklahoma Nurses Association, the Nancy and Raymond Feldman Award for Excellence in Teaching from Rogers University, and awards in Excellence in Community Service and Excellence in Nursing Education from two chapters of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society in Nursing.

Dr. Burns’ commitment to accessible, quality health care for all is reflected in more than two decades of research focused on promoting the health of childbearing and childrearing families. She was a member of the Tulsa Perinatal Coalition executive team who won a $4.5 million federal grant to implement the Healthy Start Program, a program to decrease infant mortality through expansion of services for pregnant women and children in Tulsa, OK. She is a registered nurse with a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Maryland, a master's degree in nursing from the University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. in nursing from Texas Woman's University.

“The Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences has incredible strengths in its faculty, students, and staff, and a proud history of graduates who make a difference in the lives of others,” said Dr. Burns. “I am committed to preserving these strengths while responding proactively to the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century. I am excited about the College’s future and look forward to a continuing record of excellence and accomplishments in educational programs, student and faculty scholarship, and leadership and service endeavors.”

The Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences comprises the Harris College of Nursing, the departments of Social Work, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Kinesiology and the School of Nurse Anesthesia. The college offers graduate degrees in nursing, nurse anesthesia, speech-language pathology and kinesiology. The mission of the college is to integrate research and ethical practice in preparing graduates who promote all aspects of good health and enhance the human condition.

For more information about the TCU Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, visit http://www.harriscollege.tcu.edu/.

-30-