Greer Glazer

As a dean, Greer Glazer, PhD, RN, FAAN, has transformed nursing education and influenced hundreds of thousands of nurses through new admission processes, innovative pedagogy, and modern learning environments, but she spent a lot of time in the nursing field and in the classroom before deciding to pursue a deanship.

She started her career as a labor and delivery nurse, attended Case Western Reserve University to receive both a master’s and a doctorate degree, worked as a clinical nurse specialist at University Hospital Cleveland, and then began her academic career. While working in the academic setting, Greer went back to school to become a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.

She was also granted the opportunity to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows program, and upon conclusion of the program, they asked Greer what was next for her. This question inspired Greer to make a change, and thus, she applied for a deanship. She then spent 17 years as the Dean of the University of Massachusetts Boston College of Nursing and Health Sciences and most recently retired as Dean Emeritus from the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing.

Though Greer has retired and is now enjoying her newfound free time, the lessons she learned and the impact she had as a leader have stuck with her.  

While working at the University of Cincinnati, Greer contributed to some major, positive academic changes in the nursing program. The school changed the admissions process to a holistic admission process with interviewing using Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), developed and implemented student success programming to improve retention and graduation, became an Apple Distinguished Program/School from the inception of the Apple program, transitioned the undergraduate program to use iPads, had a very committed and active Committee on Equity and Inclusive Excellence, and had a lot of fun doing it.

“Being a leader is all about vision, execution, evaluation, communication, and tweaking,” Greer said. “The key is that everyone is a part of all this, and it is not just the deans.”

Greer’s leadership experience as a RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow contributed to her future successes and passion to make changes in the field. As a fellow, Greer was exposed to the importance of creativity and innovation. For her project, she developed an interprofessional doctoral course on leadership that was co-taught with a college of business professor. The course lives on today.

Her experience in the fellowship also led to her to co-edit a book, Nursing Leadership From the Outside In, an innovative guide for nurse leaders on how to develop collaborations necessary to advance our healthcare system.

“My experience as a RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow highlighted that we all had lots of experience and interaction with nurses,” Greer said. “The future of health and healthcare was about pushing that boundary and learning from other professions and disciplines. I realized that there was a lot to learn about leadership from non-nurses.”

Even before Greer found her place as a dean, she was called to be a leader to help transform and advance healthcare, and later, help transform and advance education for nurses. Greer’s transformative work as a leader as both a dean and a fellow will continue to be valued and practiced by nurses and universities. This stays with her, even now that she’s in retirement.

“The most rewarding [part] was creating, sustaining, and recreating an environment where the faculty, students, and staff felt valued, supported, and could reach their best,” Greer said. “I loved seeing all of their accomplishments and the self and college transformation.”

Greer Glazer, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been responsible for more than 100 publications and 220 presentations, in addition to abstracts and contributions to newspapers, radio, and television. She is the cofounder and legislative editor of the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN). She was a 1998 Fulbright Scholar in Israel, RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow, Chair of the American Nurses Association Political Action Committee, recipient of NLN Mary Adelaide Nutting Award for Outstanding Leadership in Nursing Education award, recipient of the 2018 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability in Nursing Education Lectureship Award, recipient of the 2019 AACN Innovations in Professional Nursing Education Award, recipient of the 2019 AACN Exemplary Academic-Practice Partnership Award, and member of the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Committee. Recently, she was inducted into Sigma’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame for her impactful work to transform and advance healthcare and education. She has been a Sigma member for 45 years