Edwards assumed this role effective July 1.
UMSON is pleased to announce that Lori A. Edwards, DrPH, BSN ’80, RN, CNS-PCH, BC, assistant professor, has agreed to serve as the interim associate dean for the UMSON Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program, effective July 1. Edwards has been serving as the co-director of the MSN Community/Public Health Nursing (CPH) specialty since this spring. As interim associate dean, Edwards will fill the position previously held by Bimbola F. Akintade, PhD ’11, MS ’05, MBA, MHA, BSN ’03, ACNP-BC, NEA-BC, FAANP, who was recently appointed dean of the East Carolina University College of Nursing in Greenville, North Carolina.
The associate dean for the MSN program is responsible for providing vision and leadership for the master’s program, including innovative program development and integration of technology. The role is also responsible for administration and program coordination, curriculum planning, student recruitment, advisement, and retention. In addition, the associate dean will continue the School’s development of partnerships with other academic institutions and health care organizations to facilitate entry of nurses into the master’s programs.
Edwards joined UMSON in 2014 as associate director of global occupational health in the Office of Global Health. She has served successively as associate director of the Center for Community-Based Engagement and Learning; senior director of the Center for Global Education Initiatives; and fellowship director for the Interprofessional Program for Academic Community Engagement (IPACE) under the Transformation Care Funding, UMB President’s Initiative.
She brings a breadth of experience in community engagement, community-based education, and practice. She also brings extensive experience in curriculum for the master’s program, having served as chair of the MSN Curriculum Committee for five years and as a member of the 2015 taskforce on curriculum review for the CPH specialty. Edwards has broad connections across the University as an elected member of the UMB Faculty Senate and within UMSON as a member of Faculty Council.
In addition to her faculty appointment within UMSON, Edwards holds appointments in the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology Master of Public Health program and Department of Occupational Medicine, as well as in the University of Maryland, Baltimore Graduate School.
Edwards has been widely recognized with numerous awards and honors for her teaching and service. Within UMSON, she is the recipient of the 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award - Graduate, the 2021 Distinguished Service Award, and the 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award - Graduate. She also received the School of Medicine’s MPH Program Faculty Teaching Award in 2019. She was recognized nationally with the 2014 Association of Community Health Nurse Educators (ACHNE) Faculty of the Year Award for Contributions to Community Health Nursing Education.
Prior to joining UMSON, Edwards spent over three decades in a broad array of progressive roles at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins University, including as the director and founder of the Community Outreach Program for the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; and director, U.S. Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows Program. Edwards began her clinical career as a senior clinical nurse and then as program developer and community/public health nurse at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She brings additional past clinical experience as a home health care nurse and hospice nurse for the Visiting Nurse Association and a migrant health nurse for the Colorado Department of Health.
Edwards received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing, her Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health (now the Bloomberg School of Public Health), and her Doctor of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a clinical nurse specialist, public/community health.
Edwards is the current president of ACHNE and serves on the editorial board of the journal Public Health Nursing.