East Haddam Woman Appointed Dean Of Quinnipiac School Of Nursing

NORTH HAVEN, CT – Mark Thompson, Qunnipiac University Executive Vice President and Provost, announced Monday that the Associate Dean of the School of Nursing, Lisa G. O’Connor of East Haddam, has been promoted to dean of the school.

The appointment, which takes effect July 1, comes as a result of the retirement of Jean Lange, who has served as dean since the school was founded in 2011.

“Lisa O’Connor is highly qualified to lead the School of Nursing, which plays such an important role in preparing undergraduate and graduate health care professionals who go on to affect so many lives each day,” Thompson said in a release. “Lisa’s extensive experience, record of accomplishments, commitment to the profession and vision for the future made her the obvious choice to lead the School of Nursing."

As dean, O’Connor will oversee a school that enrolls 700 students in its undergraduate programs and 300 students in its graduate programs. The School of Nursing, which has 40 full-time faculty and staff members, offers an undergraduate bachelor of nursing degree as well as accelerated bachelor of nursing and online RN-to-BSN programs.

On the graduate level, the school offers an online graduate RN-to-MSN program and a master’s degree in nursing operational leadership. It also has three post-bachelor doctor of nurse practice programs in adult gerontology, family nurse practitioner and nurse anesthesia as well as two post-master’s DNP programs in care of populations and nursing leadership.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be chosen as the next leader of the School of Nursing,” O’Connor said in a release. “This close-knit community is already committed to its students and has threaded the three pillars of interprofessionalism, holism and inclusivity into our curriculum and nursing activities. As the next dean, I am dedicated to a collaborative model of leadership where we focus on high-quality programs and a student-centered environment while continuing our commitment to those three pillars.”

O’Connor has been a member of the School of Nursing faculty since 2003. During her 15-year career at Quinnipiac, she earned subsequent appointments as director and chair of the undergraduate nursing programs and ultimately was promoted to associate and full professor.

In addition, she has served as a faculty senator and as an active member of the university education committee, university assessment committee, and several other interprofessional committees and work groups.

After being appointed associate dean in 2015, O’Connor provided operational and strategic support for the School of Nursing. She has led a successful search committee for faculty with simulation expertise and has collaborated closely and effectively with search committees and the Office of Human Resources on the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and administrators.

O’Connor’s long-standing commitment to the profession and to excellence in nursing education has been further cultivated through board membership and leadership at the Connecticut League for Nursing, continuous development through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s annual leadership conferences, and most recently through her work as an accreditation site evaluator for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Her leadership at the state level was recognized in 2014 when she earned the Nurse Leadership Award from the Connecticut League for Nursing.

O’Connor has a doctorate in educational leadership, a master’s degree in nursing education and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Hartford. She also has a diploma from the Ona Wilcox School of Nursing at Middlesex Hospital.

For more information, please visit QU.edu.

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Photo credit: Simone Gutkin