Welcome to Students and Faculty as we start the new academic year!
It has been an exciting summer to say the least. We received word that our Nursing Program is now ranked 3rd by USA Today, up two spots from last year. Congratulations to all involved in advancing our program here at Drexel.
The shift in deanship following Dr. Gloria Donnelly’s change in role and my appointment as Interim Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, as well as Dr. Faye Meloy’s departure, has necessitated new roles and responsibilities for faculty and staff members.
Please join me in congratulating:
• Al Rundio, PhD, DNP, RN, APRN, NEA-BC, DPNAP, on his appointment as Associate Dean for the Division of Nursing;
• Stephanie Brooks, PhD, LCSW, LMFT, on her appointment as Associate Dean for Graduate Health Professions; and
• Robert J. Palisano, PT, ScD, FAPTA, on his appointment as Interim Associate Dean for Research.
• Dr. Rundio has held various faulty positions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has taught across the curriculum in BSN Programs and Graduate Nursing Programs. An experienced clinician, administrator, and educator, Dr. Rundio is the former Vice President of Nursing at Shore Memorial Hospital (now Shore Medical Center), Somers Point, New Jersey. Dr. Rundio is the only nurse to serve on the editorial board of the most recent edition of the Merck Manual and the Merck Manual – 2nd & 3rd Home Editions. He was the first nurse to author a chapter on health promotion in collaboration with a physician colleague. Dr. Rundio is the co-author of the Nurse Executive Review and Resource Manual published by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in March, 2010. He most recently authored a book titled: The Doctor of Nursing Practice: The Nurse Executive Role for Jones and Bartlett Publishers and Basic Budgeting Concepts for New Nurse Managers for Sigma Theta Tau Publications.
• Dr. Brooks has been practicing couple, family and sex therapy since 1987. She is respected as a clinician, educator and supervisor in the field of Couple and Family Therapy. As Associate Clinical Director of the Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, she worked with families where a member was diagnosed with a mental or medical illness and taught couple and family therapy to psychiatric residents. Dr. Brooks worked as the Assistant Director at Penn Council for Relationships-West Philadelphia Office and served as the Director of Training in Couple and Family Therapy at Centra/Crozer Chester Medical Center. In 1995 she joined the faculty at MCP Hahnemann University Graduate Programs in Couple and Family Therapy works capacity of Associate Director Master Program. Dr. Brooks has a small private practice where she provides individual, couple, family and group therapies.
• Dr. Palisano is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. He also is a scientist at the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Palisano is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association and received the Marian Williams Award for Research and the Golden Pen Award. He has been an investigator on research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Dr. Palisano has 109 peer-reviewed publications that have been cited 5,531 times. He has 19 keynote presentations and has presented his research in 15 countries. Dr. Palisano is Co-Editor of the journal Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics and Senior Editor of the textbook Campbell’s Physical Therapy for Children, Edition 5.
Additionally, I’d like to extend my congratulations to Debra Karlan, who has also taken on a new role as Director of Deans’ Operations.
Deb Karlan, MA, started as Program Administrator in the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences Department at Drexel in 2005. She became Director of Operations for Graduate Health Professions in 2012, and shortly thereafter, transitioned to handling operations for both undergraduate and graduate Health Professions. Before coming to Drexel, Deb served in a variety of administrative positions at academic institutions, including Assistant Registrar at Mount Aloysius College, Director of Administration & Finance at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and Director of the Student Services Center at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Best wishes to all for a successful academic year.
Sincerely,
Susan Smith, PT, PhD
Interim Dean