Kathy P. Parker Steps Down as School of Nursing Dean

Kathy Rideout Named Interim Dean

“We are very grateful to Kathy Parker for the progress that the School of Nursing made during her tenure as Dean,” said University President Joel Seligman. “I applaud her desire to commit to a new pivotal role as director of the Sleep Research Program at the Medical Center. This is a burgeoning area of medical research and we are excited to have an investigator of her national stature committed to it.”

Parker was appointed dean of the School of Nursing in August 2008, after more than 30 years as a distinguished clinician, professor and scientist at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Ga. As co-director of Emory’s Program in Sleep, Parker’s path-breaking investigations to improve the quality of sleep in people with chronic illness garnered national recognition.  

Additionally, the Center for Nursing Entrepreneurship (CNE) was restructured and integrated within the School, sharpening its focus on both financial and social entrepreneurship and serving as a valuable source of revenue for the School. Parker also led efforts to centralize the School’s budget under the associate dean for Finance, helping to ensure greater financial stability for the future. Annual fund contributions and the overall number of charitable relationships with the School flourished during her tenure.

“I am honored to have served as Dean of this School and I am grateful to all of the faculty and staff who’ve contributed to our success,” Parker said. “The opportunity to return to my research – at a time when sleep disorders are affecting so many patients – is irresistible.” 

In her new capacity, Parker will remain a tenured faculty member of the School while working for the Medical Center to direct new areas of sleep research — an emerging field of study which holds great promise to improve the quality of life and outcomes of patients with a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Solid Interim Leadership

“As a highly respected practitioner, teacher and scholar, Kathy Rideout embodies the unification model of the School of Nursing,” said Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer for the Medical Center. “She is very passionate about making sure the students and faculty are successful, and that the School is held in the highest regard. We are extremely pleased to have someone with her energy, capabilities and experience lead the School during this time of transition, and know she will be adept at working together with everyone, both in and outside the School, to keep the School moving forward.”

A member of the School of Nursing faculty for more than 25 years, Rideout has most recently served as the School’s senior associate dean for academic affairs. Since 1986 she has also worked as a nurse practitioner within Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Currently she is a part-time pediatric ostomy nurse practitioner in the Department of Pediatric Surgery.

During her tenure as associate dean, Rideout has been integral to the growth, success and diversity of the School’s educational programs and clinical partnerships, and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the success of nursing students through the development of numerous student support initiatives.  She led the development and implementation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, which over the last four years has significantly increased the diversity of students enrolled in the School’s accelerated program for non-nurses (A.P.N.N.).

Rideout has also been dedicated to expanding clinical joint appointments for clinical faculty.

*  The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center