The UNMC and nursing community recently gathered to celebrate Juliann Sebastian, PhD, RN, FAAN, for her spirit of service and her outstanding leadership as dean of the UNMC College of Nursing.
Dr. Sebastian, who has served as dean for the UNMC’s College of Nursing since October 2011, will retire in early 2023.
During the Dec. 7 retirement reception, UNMC leaders cited Dr. Sebastian’s many accomplishments, as well as her character, leadership, energy and commitment.
The reception was capped with a surprise visit from one of Dr. Sebastian’s role models and mentors — Carolyn Williams, PhD, dean emeritus of the UK College of Nursing and former president of the American Academy of Nursing, who said she recognized the dean’s “special internal spark” long ago.
“Thank you, Julie, for the work you did and for the wonderful spirit with which you did it,” Dr. Williams told those gathered in the Truhlsen Events Center. “We all have profited from the wonderful colleagueship and friendship that (Dr. Sebastian) has so generously offered while doing that work.”
View images from the dean’s retirement reception.
In a videotaped message, UNMC’s Dele Davies, MD, vice chancellor for academic affairs, said Dr. Sebastian leaves behind many gifts, including a new scholarship to support generations of nursing students. The Juliann G. and James Russell Sebastian Nursing Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation, together with additional contributions made in honor of the dean’s service, will be a $300,000 permanently endowed fund to forever provide scholarship aid to future generations of nursing students.
In addition, the Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson Charitable Foundation of Omaha also has established a scholarship fund in her name: the Dr. Julie Sebastian Health Equity Scholars Fund, a permanent endowment through a $500,000 gift to the NU Foundation.
“It’s been a real joy to work with my colleagues,” Dr. Sebastian said. “We dream big and are not afraid to take action.”
Dr. Sebastian was joined by her husband, Russell, and daughter, Kim, who helped unveil a portrait of her that will hang near the dean’s suite in the UNMC College of Nursing.”
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, in a videotaped message, praised Dr. Sebastian’s leadership, saying: “Everyone who has worked and learned from Dean Sebastian knows the depth of her commitment – not just to the University of Nebraska Medical Center and our clinical partner, Nebraska Medicine, but to the state of Nebraska as a whole.”
Overseeing division initiatives in Kearney, Norfolk, Scottsbluff, Lincoln and Omaha, is a juggling act, Dr. Gold said, noting “even a pandemic couldn’t hold Dr. Sebastian back. Throughout it, she’s remained calm and steadfast, making career-defining differences for current and future students and redefining the role of nurses to better serve our urban and rural communities.”
Learn more about Dr. Sebastian’s accomplishments at UNMC.
Comments also were made by UNMC’s Kyle Meyer, PhD, dean of the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions; Lynnette Leeseberg Stamler, PhD, DLitt, emeritus professor; Lisa Muschall, director of administrations and operations, and emcee Ann Berger, PhD, professor and chair of the retirement reception planning committee.
Prior to joining UNMC, Dr. Sebastian served five years as dean and professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and she spent more than 29 years as a faculty member at the University of Kentucky, where she earned three degrees and developed as a leader, educator and scholar.