Jeannette Andrews, who earned her doctoral degree in nursing from the University of South Carolina, has been named dean of the USC College of Nursing.

Andrews, the associate dean for research at the Medical University of South Carolina’s College of Nursing, will officially start as dean Jan. 1, 2013.

“I have always been excited about what USC offers, its history and past accomplishments, and equally important, the bright future ahead. USC’s leadership team, faculty, students and alumni are among the best in the nation,” Andrews said. “I was attracted to the position because of USC’s role as a comprehensive university, its Carnegie research status, and its impact on the state of South Carolina, the region and beyond.”

Andrews, 48, brings 27 years of nursing and leadership experience to USC.

Before joining MUSC in 2008, where she was also director of the S.C. Translational Research Institute’s Center for Community Health Partnerships, Andrews served as department chair of biobehavioral nursing at the Medical College of Georgia. She is a family nurse practitioner, nurse scientist and a nationally known expert and consultant in “patient centered” care and community-based participatory research, especially with vulnerable populations.

“Jeannette Andrews emerged as the clear choice from a very strong group of finalists. She brings to USC an outstanding research record and a strong commitment to nursing education and practice,” USC Provost Michael Amiridis said. “I am confident that her leadership will continue to advance our College of Nursing, creating unique opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students and an excellent work environment for our faculty and staff.”

Andrews has received funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health and other sponsors since 2001. Her primary research, which started when she was working on her doctoral degree at USC, focuses on ways to help women and their families living in public housing stop smoking and improve other aspects of their health. Through the “Sister to Sister” research initiative, she worked with 20 inner-city neighborhoods in South Carolina and Georgia to develop an innovative multi-level intervention to help lower the 40 percent smoking rate.

Her interest in the research came from her work as a nurse practitioner in primary care at the Veterans Administration hospital in Augusta, Ga., where she found little done to curb smoking among veterans. She became involved with and led major in- and out-patient smoking cessation services, and her work progressed to the community and local neighborhoods. She has also been involved with several research and community initiatives to prevent smoking uptake among school-aged children and teens. Her latest research initiatives involve nurse-led behavioral interventions in communities that have minimal access to healthcare, linking those communities to primary care clinics.

Andrews, who was raised in Augusta, Ga., remains drawn to work in her native South.

“It is so important to me to continue to work in the Southern region to improve health care delivery, improve patient outcomes and to positively impact the health of all of our citizens,” she said. “USC graduates more nurses in the state than any other university. We are primed to make transformative changes in health care and reduce disparities in our region. I’m committed to make a difference in South Carolina.”

Andrews is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow, and serves on several national task forces and panels, including the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Community Engagement Key Function Committee, American Academy of Nursing’s Expert Panel on Health Behaviors and scientific review committees for the National Institutes of Health and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

At the USC College of Nursing, Andrews hopes to continue the progress made by Dean Peggy Hewlett, who is returning to the faculty.

“Dr. Hewlett has achieved many great accomplishments during her deanship, including doubling the number of undergraduate students, expanding the reach of the program to additional sites and leading major workforce initiatives across the state We want to continue the quality and excellence in the undergraduate programs and further expand the doctoral programs (doctor of nursing practice and Ph.D. programs) and the research enterprise in the college,” she said. “I want to build on the great things Peggy Hewlett and other deans before me have done and continue to move the college forward. It will be an honor and privilege to serve as the seventh dean of the USC College of Nursing.”

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