Marla Salmon, professor and dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, has been selected to be the next dean of the UW School of Nursing, starting Oct. 1, 2008.

“I am honored and excited about the wonderful opportunity to serve as the next dean of the School of Nursing. This is a very special school and university,” Salmon wrote in an e-mail. “The combination of superb faculty, staff and students — and the genuine warmth of everyone I’ve met — convinced me that this was a place I’d love to be.”

UW Provost Phyllis Wise selected Salmon from a pool of applicants narrowed down by a selection committee and a professional search, but the Board of Regents must approve of the appointment.

Parker Executive search, the firm used to find Wise, was enlisted in the search for the new dean for the nursing school, said Cathryn Booth-Laforce, co-chair of the search committee for the new dean.

Salmon will be replacing Nancy Wood, who served as dean for 10 years and asked that her term not be extended. Deans serve at the appointment of the provost for a five-year contract, at which point the contract can be terminated or extended, Wise said.

Stakeholders, faculty, staff, students, administration and those who provide funding support to the School of Nursing were all asked their opinions in regard to what they wanted in a new dean. These groups then sent nominations to Parker Executive, which contacted every dean at the top 30 nursing schools in the country, Booth-Laforce said.

The School of Nursing community was looking for someone “who could take on the role as dean of the number one school of nursing in the country,” Booth-Laforce said.

However, staying number one was not a top priority, Wise said. Instead, the goal is to build a school thinking about the future and how the school can be a leader for the next generation of nurses, faculty and the community, she said.

“My hope is that I will be a leader who is there to help continue and further develop a context in which faculty, staff and students can excel individually and together — as a school and in partnership with others beyond the school,” Salmon wrote.

Some key issues that the dean will have to face are the large number of faculty retiring in the next five to 10 years and the nursing shortage across the country, Booth-Laforce said.

Salmon has experience in the field of nursing and in management. She received a doctorate of science from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, a master of science degree from the University of Portland School of Nursing and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Nebraska and the University of Portland. She also studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cologne in Germany.

In addition to her extensive academic qualifications, Salmon has held numerous positions at universities and worked for the U.S. government, serving as the chief nurse for the Health Resources and Services Administration which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also served on the White House Taskforce on Healthcare Reform.

Even though her career has taken her to many different places across the United States, Salmon said she looks forward to moving back to the west coast.

“There is no place quite like this part of the country,” she said. “I feel like I coming home.”

[Reach reporter Sonia McBride at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]