Lorraine Frazier Appointed Nursing School Dean

July 10, 2018

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:
 
We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Lorraine Frazier, PhD, RN, FAAN, as the new Dean of the Columbia University School of Nursing, the Mary O'Neil Mundinger, DrPH Professor of Nursing, and Senior Vice President at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her appointment will be effective September 1, 2018.

For the past three years, Dr. Frazier has been the Dean of the School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).  She completed her PhD there in 2000 and joined the faculty in 2002, rising to professor, associate dean, and chair of the Department of Nursing Systems in 2008. Dr. Frazier previously served, for almost four years, as the Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 
 
Dr. Frazier is a national expert in biobanking, the emerging science of collecting, storing, and sharing blood and tissue samples for the purpose of advancing medical research and providing access to genetic information. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the UTHealth School of Public Health Human Genetics Center, Dr. Frazier served as director of the UTHealth Biobank and project director for TexGen, a biobank consortium involving academic institutions across Texas. Her research into the interactions of behavior and genetics in patients with acute coronary syndrome has been funded by the National Institutes of Health. 
 
The UTHealth School of Nursing during Dr. Frazier’s tenure as dean experienced significant growth in programs, graduate enrollment, and endowment funding. In 2017, a $25 million gift resulted in the University of Texas naming the school the Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing, and establishing the Cizik Nursing Research Institute.
 
We want to take this opportunity to express our thanks on behalf of the University to Dean Bobbie Berkowitz, whose leadership over the past eight years has comprehensively strengthened the School’s programs in graduate nursing education, clinical care, and research. Dean Berkowitz played an essential role in the conception, planning, and construction of the stunning new building that is now home to the School of Nursing at our Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus. As a result, the School is in an extremely strong position to advance the practice of nursing, and we are enormously grateful to Dr. Berkowitz for her service to Columbia.
 
We would also like to express our appreciation to the search committee, led by Dr. John Rowe from the Mailman School of Public Health, for its outstanding work in identifying an exceptional new dean. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Lorraine Frazier to the Columbia community.
 
Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger
President

Lee Goldman, MD
Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine
Chief Executive, Columbia University Irving Medical Center