Leadership

Dean Patricia D. Hurn

Patricia D. Hurn, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is the dean of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the School of Medicine. She began her second five-year appointment at U-M on Aug. 1, 2021.

Dean Hurn is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research on the cellular and molecular basis of gender in determining response to experimental brain injury. She has been the principal investigator on more than $20 million in grant-supported research as well as a co-investigator or collaborator on many other projects. Her work in innovation includes developing collaborative biohealth research teams, advancing science education, creating novel pharmaceuticals for stroke and pioneering new research technologies.

Dean Hurn’s vision and leadership within the U-M School of Nursing have focused on expanding in-residence education to include thriving digital education modalities and establishing new partnerships with health care delivery systems across the state.

Dean Hurn began her career at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a Ph.D. in physiology and completed post-graduate training as a translational neuroscientist. She notes that her research interests and passion for the biological sciences grew from her clinical work as a critical care and trauma nurse.