Women in science

By Nathan Robinson

Gabby Thompson, left, and instructor Lee Anne McCarty practice drawing blood on an artificial arm during a Women in Science Day workshop May 11 at Ohio State. About 200 girls in grades six through nine attended workshops presented by some 25 OSU faculty and staff. Women in Science Day is sponsored by the Association for Women in Science of Central Ohio in partnership with colleges and departments.

Lenz to be named dean of nursing

Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray has recommended to President Brit Kirwan the appointment of Elizabeth R. Lenz as dean of Ohio State's College of Nursing. Kirwan will ask the University's Board of Trustees to approve the appointment at its June 1 meeting.

Lenz currently serves as associate dean for research and doctoral studies and professor of nursing and nursing research at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Her appointment is to be effective Sept. 1. She will succeed Carole A. Anderson, who is stepping down Aug. 1.

"I am delighted that we have been able to recruit someone the caliber of Dr. Lenz, who worked at the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus for a time while I was president of the University of Maryland, College Park," Kirwan said. "In Maryland, Dr. Lenz's efforts were instrumental in moving the nursing school to new heights of excellence, serving as the founding director of its nursing Ph.D. program and associate dean for graduate studies and research in nursing."

Elizabeth R. Lenz has been appointed dean of Ohio State's College of Nursing, pending Board of Trustees approval.

"Dr. Lenz is one of the nation's foremost experts on doctoral nursing education," Ray said. "Her extraordinary record of scholarship has firmly convinced both myself and members of the search committee that she is well-poised to take our college to a new level of research excellence in alignment with the University's mission and Academic Plan."

Lenz's research interests have focused on the health of families. She has extensively studied beginning families, parenting, maternal health and infant development, post-hospitalization resources, and the impact of major illness, surgery and recovery on the family. She is also known for her theoretical work in social support, information seeking and theories in nursing science.

Her current research includes a comparison of doctor and nursing practice processes and outcomes, and symptoms and moods of geriatric cardiac surgery patients during recovery.

Lenz has authored more than 80 journal articles and book chapters and a text on measurement in nursing research. She edits an international journal, Scholarly Inquiry in Nursing Practice, and has received research funding from multiple federal and foundation sources, including a nearly $400,000 grant this year from the Teagle Foundation to study foundations for the doctor of nursing practice degree.

Prior to joining the Columbia University faculty as associate dean, professor, and the Anna C. Maxwell Professor of Nursing Research in 1996, Lenz held faculty positions at Boston College, Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, and was professor of nursing and director of the Center for Nursing Research at Pennsylvania State University's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She earned her bachelor's degree from DePauw University, her master of science from Boston College and her doctorate in sociology from the University of Delaware.

"I am delighted to be coming to Ohio State, and excited about assuming the deanship of the College of Nursing in September," Lenz said. "I am impressed by the College of Nursing's outstanding reputation, productive faculty, fine students, excellent facilities and strong academic programs."

next page...