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November 24, 2008
McCauley named dean of nursing

By Sarah Goodwin

Linda A. McCauley, a renowned environmental health researcher and member of the Institute of Medicine, has been appointed dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. McCauley will begin her tenure at Emory on May 1, 2009.

She currently is associate dean for research and the Nightingale Professor in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. McCauley is a national leader in the area of pesticide exposure and its impact on vulnerable populations, particularly children and workers.

“Dr. McCauley is an internationally recognized leader in nursing education and research,” says Fred Sanfilippo, who made the appointment as Emory executive vice president for health affairs and chief executive officer of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

“Her professional acumen and passion for her field will help the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing continue to attract some of the most outstanding faculty and promising nursing students in the nation — faculty who will pioneer lifesaving advances in nursing practice and research and students who will go on to deliver outstanding outcomes, safety and service to the people in their care around the world,” adds Sanfilippo.

McCauley’s appointment follows an extensive national search led by James Curran, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health, and Susan Grant, chief nursing officer for Emory Healthcare. McCauley succeeds Marla Salmon, who left in June to assume the deanship at the University of Washington School of Nursing after nine years at Emory.

President Jim Wagner says, “Dr. McCauley brings the kind of leadership strengths that Emory needs to protect and improve human health, especially among those who are most vulnerable in our society. Her influence and expertise play prominently on the national stage and will provide important new avenues for Emory to bring new solutions to problems affecting many thousands of human lives.”

McCauley’s work aims to identify culturally appropriate interventions to decrease the impact of environmental and occupational health hazards in vulnerable populations, including workers and young children. A major goal of her research is to disseminate findings in ways that are understandable and meaningful to clinicians and migrant farm workers.

She received a bachelor of nursing degree from the University of North Carolina, and in 1979 she received a masters in nursing from Emory. In 1988, she earned a doctorate degree in environmental health and epidemiology from the University of Cincinnati.

McCauley is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Sigma Theta Tau Honorary Nursing Society, the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Nursing.

She also serves in an advisory capacity for the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.

“Dr. McCauley has a rich academic history as a trailblazer in nursing research and as one whose approach to inquiry combines many disciplines,” says Earl Lewis, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “She brings the kind of deep curiosity and broad spirit of collaboration that will benefit academic pursuits not only in health sciences but all throughout the university.”

At Emory, McCauley will lead a team of nursing faculty members, whose research spans the globe and ranks in the top 20 of more than 700 U.S. collegiate schools of nursing and the top 10 among private institutions. The nursing school develops nursing leaders who are transforming health care through science, education, practice and policy worldwide.