Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc., associate dean for research for the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, will be appointed to serve as sixth dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, pending approval of the NU Board of Regents.
Dr. Tilden, 57, who would assume the post Oct. 8, will succeed Ada Lindsey, Ph.D., who will retire July 31 after more than eight years at UNMC.
“I’m very excited and pleased to be joining UNMC and Chancellor Maurer’s leadership team. It’s a real privilege,” Dr. Tilden said. “The college’s reputation was a great attraction. It’s very strong in its ranking among graduate programs among schools of nursing and is known as having very strong academic programs and viewed as coming up quickly in the research arena. I’m very excited about that.
“As we all know, not only is research essential for the nursing discipline, cutting edge science and for clinical practice, it also is a very important source of revenue as the budgets of states across the country are challenged.”
As dean of the College of Nursing, Dr. Tilden will lead 115 faculty members. Dr. Lindsey said the college will ge in good hands.
“I am most pleased that she has accepted the offer and look forward to progress of the CON that will occur under her new leadership here,” Dr. Lindsey said.
Dr. Tilden, who is also a professor of nursing and associate director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care, received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Georgetown University School of Nursing in Washington, D.C. in 1967. She earned her master’s degree in psychiatric nursing in 1971 and her doctorate in nursing science in 1981, both from the University of California School of Nursing in San Francisco.
Dr. Tilden said she was impressed during her visit with the “warmth and spirit of Nebraskans.”
“I was also drawn to the fact that the college serves all corners of the state. It means it serves all of Nebraska and that there is a window to nursing education so those who pursue nursing can stay in the communities in which they live. It’s extremely important for a school to provide access to everyone, not just an urban corridor,” Dr. Tilden said.
As dean, Dr. Tilden will be responsible for providing leadership in planning, organizing and securing the necessary resources to accomplish the goals and objectives of the college.
“I am so pleased that Dr. Tilden has made the decision to join us at UNMC,” said Mary Haven, associate dean of UNMC’s School of Allied Health Professions and chairwoman of the search committee. “She will be an excellent dean. With her expertise and experience she will build on the outstanding work that Dr. Lindsay and the current faculty have done to increase the national and international status of the College of Nursing.”
Dr. Tilden has held an endowed professorship, the A.B. Youmans Spaulding Distinguished Professorship in Nursing, since 1998 and is nationally known for her extensive research related to end-of-life care. She was one of the founders of the Center for Ethics in Health Care and has led the center’s research program on improving care of the dying.
She has been a principal investigator of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research and training grants since 1986. She has been active in teaching, curriculum development and program evaluation since 1974.
She began her career in nursing in 1967 as a psychiatric nurse at the Langley Porter Neuro-Psychiatric Institute in San Francisco, then from 1968 to 1969 at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, Hawaii. In 1972, she began lecturing at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing where she ultimately served as assistant clinical professor (1975-1977) and clinical instructor, psychiatric nursing (1981-1982).
In 1982, she accepted a position as associate professor at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing. In 1991 she became associate dean for research, and in 1988 was elevated to professor of nursing.
Under Dr. Tilden’s leadership, the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing has grown to rank eighth of 90 ranked nursing schools in the country, in the amount of research funding from the NIH.
“The search committee has done an outstanding job in seeking excellent candidates for dean,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “Dr. Tilden’s strong leadership skills and commitment to education, research and clinical practice will enable the college to reach new heights. Her special expertise in research development is a perfect fit for UNMC at this time. We are delighted to welcome her to the UNMC family.”
She has received funding as principal investigator, co-principal investigator or co-director of 20 research grants, many of them funded by the NIH National Institute of Nursing Research, has presented more than 100 papers and presentations nationally and internationally, has published 61 articles and has written eight book chapters.
She has received numerous honors and awards over the years, including the Pathfinder Distinguished Researcher Award from the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research, Distinguished Faculty Award for Research from the Oregon Health & Science University, Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing and Nurse of the Year Award from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Her national leadership roles include that of study section member for both the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. She has been on the Board of Directors of the American Nurses Foundation, the American Academy of Nursing and the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science. She also is an associate editor for Nursing Research.
The daughter of a former foreign service officer, Dr. Tilden lived in five different countries before entering high school in Washington, D.C.