Salmon brings with her an impressive list of credentials in academia and in public administration. She is a professor in nursing and in public health, an expert in health policy and administration, and has served as the chair of the Global Advisory Group on Nursing and Midwifery for the World Health Organization. From 1991 to 1997 she held the title of the nation’s “head nurse” as director of the nursing division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Marla Salmon has outstanding leadership experience in nursing, education, practice and research,” says Phyllis M. Wise, provost and executive vice president of the University of Washington. “She is dedicated to the field of nursing. We’re looking forward to having her lead our School of Nursing, which already enjoys an international reputation for its excellence.”

During her tenure as dean of the nursing school at Emory, Salmon has also been professor of health policy and management, and director of the Lillian Carter Center of International Nursing. Under her leadership the school increased enrollments of minority students and male faculty and students and developed a collaborative dual undergraduate degree, in conjunction with Agnes Scott College, which allows students to pursue a joint degree in undergraduate liberal arts and nursing. Prior to her current position, Salmon was professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania where she also served as associate dean and director of graduate studies.

Salmon began her career as a nurse in a migrant health program, and the theme of global health has been intrinsic in her research and service since. She has been a member of the White House Task Force on Global Health Reform and, from 1997 to 2000, chaired the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.

The School of Nursing deanship will be a Pacific Northwest homecoming of sorts for Salmon. She spent her childhood in rural Northern California and earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Portland: a bachelor of arts in political science in 1971, and a bachelor of science in nursing in 1972. She was awarded a doctor of science from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1977 and received a master of science from the University of Portland School of Nursing in 1999. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Nebraska and the University of Portland, and studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cologne in Germany.

Salmon joins the School of Nursing on October 1, 2008.

                                                                                               ­­ Julie H. Case

Marla Elizabeth Salmon

Previous role: Professor of health policy and management; director of the Lillian Carter Center of International Nursing; and dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.

 Research interests: National and international workforce policy and development, health care reform and policy, and public health and community nursing

Education:

Bachelor’s degrees in political science and nursing, University of Portland

Doctor of Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

Master of Science, University of Portland School of Nursing

Career:

• 1978-86: Assistant/associate professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
• 1986-91: Associate professor/professor of public health nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 1991-97: Known as the “nation’s head nurse” in her roles as chief nurse for the Health Resources and Services Administration and director of the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• 1997-99: Professor, associate dean and director of graduate studies, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

Background: Born in South Dakota, raised in rural Sebastopol, Calif., with three siblings. Her father was a physician, and her mother was a nurse.

Hobbies: 2nd-degree black belt in taekwondo

Author: NURSE: A World of Care