Kennesaw State University professor of nursing Susan Dyess has been appointed to Wellstar School of Nursing’s Thomas M. and Elizabeth D. Holder Endowed Chair, the school said in a press release on Wednesday.
A professor at KSU since 2019, Dyess has served as the interim director of the Wellstar School since July 2021.
“As interim director, Dr. Dyess has demonstrated her passion for nursing, nursing education and teamwork,” Monica Swahn, dean of the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services, said in the press release. “She has also demonstrated strong leadership skills and strategic planning. She emerged from a national search as the ideal candidate for the position, and I congratulate her on this appointment.”
A university and college-level policy maker, Dyess has previously served as associate dean and has over 30 years of academic and nursing experience.
“I couldn’t be happier to be selected for this endowed chair and to be the director of the Wellstar School of Nursing,” she said in the press release. “The faculty and staff are phenomenally committed and dedicated, the students are talented and amazing, and I have the privilege of working alongside them every day.”
The Thomas M. and Elizabeth D. Holder Endowed Chair was established within the Wellstar School of Nursing when its namesakes gave KSU $1 million in 2014. The Wellstar School of Nursing currently enrolls roughly 700 students. In 2020, Wellstar Health System donated $8.7 million to the nursing program.
“Nursing right now is undergoing a great workforce shortage, and the essentials that guide our educational curriculum have changed, so we need to respond to that,” Dyess said. “While there’s a lot to do, it’s a very exciting time to be in nursing education.”
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