SOUTH KINGSTOWN – After conducting a national search, the University of Rhode Island has named Barbara E. Wolfe, associate dean for research and professor at the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, its new dean of the College of Nursing.
In addition to her work at Boston College, Wolfe has also held faculty positions in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She begins her duties at URI in early summer and will succeed Professor Mary Sullivan, who has served as interim dean of nursing since 2012.
“Dean Wolfe’s extensive experience and leadership in research and administration will enhance the university’s profile and prospects for the future with regard to nursing education, research and outreach,” said Donald H. DeHayes, provost and vice president for academic affairs at URI, in a statement issued by URI. “She has the attributes, enthusiasm, national reputation and experience to strategically lead and advance the College of Nursing at URI.”
“I am very excited to be joining such an esteemed, thriving and enriching community,” Wolfe said, in the URI statement. “[URI] has exceptionally gifted students, faculty and staff, as well as steadfast, supportive alumni. These attributes, along with essential and valued local, regional and global partnerships, make URI well-poised to continue advancing the mission of learning and leading together to enhance the lives of others.”
Earlier in her career, Wolfe served as the director of the Center for Nursing Research at the Connell School at Boston College. From 2004 to the present, she has lectured in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and served as a research associate at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. From 1997 to 2004, she was assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Wolfe holds Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist Board Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Her psychiatric/mental health nursing research, and specifically her work on eating disorders, has been published in numerous academic and medical journals. A past president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Wolfe has served on numerous national committees, including scientific review panels for NIH, and has received many honors and awards.
She earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Syracuse University, her master’s degree in psychiatric mental health nursing from Yale University and her doctorate in nursing from Boston College.
