Dr. Love has a vision for growth of faculty development

Linda Love, Ed.D. — a cornerstone for faculty development since joining UNMC in 2004 — has been named director of the Office of Faculty Development.

Dr. Love succeeds Howard Liu, M.D., who stepped down recently after being named interim chair of the UNMC Department of Psychiatry.

“Health science educators across the nation have been experiencing an unprecedented degree of change stemming from: technological advances; multiplying opportunities for collaboration; re-envisioning of our classroom, bedside and online teaching environments; and a greater emphasis on quality and efficiency. Faculty members can no longer rely exclusively on their expertise as a physician, nurse or physical therapist, but must hone skills in education, business and leadership. This can be a difficult shift to manage for busy faculty,” said Dr. Love, who has seen a rapid evolution in faculty development needs during her 14 years at UNMC.

To address these needs, Faculty Development is planning programs and services that support the growth of both individual faculty members and the institution as a whole, she said.

“The Faculty Development team has spent thousands of hours training and coaching faculty and is never short of brilliant and inspiring collaborators. However, it is important we actively seek out those who don’t look and think like us. We have big challenges ahead. Diversity and courageous inquiry are essential for any great, future-minded academic culture. We are actively looking for faculty and leaders who ‘think different’ and want to be a part of growing an amazing learning organization culture,” Dr. Love explained.

A longtime champion of UNMC’s Interprofessional Leadership for Excellence and Academic Development (iLEAD) program, a primary goal under Dr. Love’s leadership will focus on growing leaders and coaching faculty to be highly successful in representing Nebraska on both the local and national stage. “It’s our mission to share UNMC’s clinical, research and educational scholarship and breakthroughs with our patients, learners and the world. To achieve this, we must develop world-class communicators,” said Dr. Love.

Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dele Davies, M.D., commended Dr. Love for her ongoing contribution to the advancement of UNMC faculty.

“Dr. Love has demonstrated a strong commitment to faculty development during the past 10 years, working closely with Dr. Myrna Newland and then Dr. Howard Liu and has been involved in most of the major new educational initiatives on campus,” Dr. Davies said. “I am confident that she will continue and build upon the strong trajectory of leadership shown by the prior two leaders.”