Newswise — New York, NY (July 10, 2018)—Columbia University has appointed Lorraine Frazier, PhD, RN, FAAN, as the new Dean of the Columbia University School of Nursing, the Mary O'Neil Mundinger, DrPH Professor of Nursing, and senior vice president at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her appointment will be effective September 1, 2018.

Dr. Frazier will succeed Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, FAAN, who was named dean of the School of Nursing in 2010.

“This is a moment when the continuity of strong and creative leadership is essential for Columbia’s School of Nursing,” said University President Lee C. Bollinger. “Under Dean Bobbie Berkowitz, the School has been preparing leaders who are shaping the health care system and training students to practice at the profession’s highest level.  Dr. Lorraine Frazier is recognized for her scholarship and for her accomplishments as dean of two different nursing schools, experience that makes her ideally suited to carry Columbia Nursing forward to the next stage in its development."

Dr. Frazier joins Columbia from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), where she is professor and dean of the School of Nursing. She completed her PhD there in 2000 and joined the faculty in 2002, rising to professor, associate dean, and chair of the Department of Nursing Systems in 2008. Dr. Frazier also served, for almost four years, as dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Frazier to the Columbia University School of Nursing,” said Lee Goldman, MD, Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine and Chief Executive, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Dr. Frazier’s remarkable depth of experience will help us advance the role of nursing practice in an increasingly complex health care landscape. As we welcome her to Columbia, I also want to express my personal as well as institutional gratitude to Dean Bobbie Berkowitz, whose extraordinary leadership over the past eight years has positioned the school for even greater success in the future.”

Dr. Frazier is a national expert in biobanking, the emerging science of collecting, storing, and sharing blood and tissue samples for the purpose of advancing medical research and providing access to genetic information. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the UTHealth School of Public Health Human Genetics Center, Dr. Frazier served as director of the UTHealth Biobank and project director for TexGen, a biobank consortium involving academic institutions across Texas.

During Dr. Frazier’s tenure as dean, the UTHealth School of Nursing experienced significant growth in programs, graduate enrollment, and endowment funding. In 2017, a $25 million gift resulted in the University of Texas naming the school the Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing and establishing the Cizik Nursing Research Institute.

“I am honored and pleased to be appointed as dean of the Columbia University School of Nursing,” said Dr. Frazier.  "The School, Columbia University, and its world-class medical center are renowned for excellence and innovation with a global reach. I look forward with excitement at the opportunity to serve there, helping the School to advance the science and practice of nursing, while continuing to produce world-class graduates. I can think of no better place to fulfill my passion for 21st century nursing!”

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Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.

Columbia University School of Nursing is part of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, which also includes the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, and the College of Dental Medicine. With more than 100 full-time faculty and 600 students, the School of Nursing is dedicated to educating the next generation of nurse leaders in education, research, and clinical care. 

The school has pioneered advanced practice nursing curricula and continues to define the role of nursing and nursing research through its PhD program which prepares nurse scientists, and its doctor of nursing practice (DNP), one of the first clinical practice doctorate programs in the nation. Among the clinical practice areas shaped by the school’s research are the reduction of infectious disease and the use of health care informatics to improve health and health care. For more information, please visit: www.nursing.columbia.edu.