Professor Charleen McNeill, PhD, MSN, RN, has joined the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing as Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Dr. McNeill comes to UTHSC from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, where she filled a similar role as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

McNeill brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this administrative role, which sets the academic tone for the college. She is president-elect of the Southern Nursing Research Society, which was established in 1986 to lead the transformation of health outcomes through nursing research. Her research involves emergency shelter placement, community health issues to include emergency preparedness and response, resilience, opioid utilization and most recently, COVID-19.

“Dr. McNeill brings great experience from multiple academic institutions as well as 13 years of service in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. She brings relevant skills in problem-solving, multi-tasking and remaining calm under pressure. We are excited she brings these skills now to the UTHSC College of Nursing,” said Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAANP.

McNeill obtained her PhD from the University of Texas at Tyler, her MSN from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her BSN from the University of Arkansas. She is a U.S. Army veteran who was recognized as the 2017 Inaugural Outstanding

Alumni for the University of Texas at Tyler and the 2017 Outstanding Alumni for the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. McNeill replaces Professor Susan Jacob, PhD, RN, who has held a number of leadership roles in the college of nursing in her nearly two decades of service to the university.

McNeill said, “I came to UTHSC to work with colleagues who have vast knowledge and experience and a history of excellence, to work with a dean who has a history of being innovative and strategically leading, and because academic health science centers are able to fully embrace the mission of the Academy, leveraging the strengths of the team who hold joint responsibility for health care, education and research.”