Judith Sims Billings, Ph.D., has been named assistant dean for the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Nursing Kearney Division.
Dr. Billings has 33 years of nursing experience which includes 23 years with the Kearney nursing program. In 1976, she was one of three faculty members to start the nursing program at Kearney State College. Her career began as an assistant professor and 10 years later she became an associate professor. In 1991, Dr. Billings earned full professorship and she has served as interim assistant dean since January 1997. As assistant dean for the Kearney program, Dr. Billings oversees 14 faculty members and approximately 125 students.
“The College of Nursing faculty and staff are dedicated to providing quality baccalaureate nursing education to students in the central Nebraska area, and I am pleased to be part of this mission,” said Dr. Billings.
Dr. Billings received her undergraduate nursing degree from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan., and both her master’s degree in medical surgical nursing, and her doctorate degree in educational administration from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Before joining the Kearney State College staff, Dr. Billings taught nursing at South Dakota State University in Brookings and was a head nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She is a member of the American Nurses’ Association, the National League for Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society and serves on the Nebraska Nursing Associations board of directors.
She has earned such honors as the Council of Deans’ Distinguished Service Award from Kearney State College in 1990 and the Outstanding Achievement in Nursing award from the Nebraska Nurses’ Association in 1981.
“Dr. Billings knows the Kearney and surrounding communities well, and has had a long-standing relationship with nursing personnel in the clinical agencies that are so important to our educational program,” said Ada Lindsey, Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Nursing. “She has the support of the Kearney division faculty and the administrative team of the College of Nursing.”
In 1991, the Kearney nursing division joined the UNMC nursing program. The UNMC College of Nursing has other campus locations in Omaha, Lincoln and Scottsbluff, and is the largest nursing school in the state. It is the only program in the state offering undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees.