Dear Adelphi Community,
I’m pleased to share that after a national search for the next dean of our College of Nursing and Public Health, I have appointed Deborah Hunt, PhD ’12, a highly qualified administrator, experienced nursing professor and esteemed graduate of Adelphi’s PhD in Nursing program to this pivotal role. Dr. Hunt’s appointment will begin on July 25.
As the Dr. Betty L. Forest Dean of the College of Nursing and Public Health (CNPH), Dr. Hunt will bring her strategic vision to the academic and administrative leadership of the College, reinforcing and expanding on its reputation for providing a rigorous and immersive professional education in nursing, public health, healthcare informatics and related fields. In close collaboration with CNPH faculty, she will support and advance the goals, policies and practices of the College, overseeing curricula; faculty and student recruitment and retention; diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts; assessment- and accreditation-related activities; and budget oversight.
Dr. Hunt’s credentials and experience as an academic leader, faculty member and practitioner make her ideally suited to lead CNPH and build upon its historical legacy. Previously, she served as associate dean for the nursing program at Mercy College, where she was the program’s academic leader for continuing students from the college’s New Rochelle campus, and for the Accelerated Second Degree in Nursing pre-licensure program at its Bronx campus. This role included strategic planning for the nursing program across all campuses.
Prior to her work at Mercy College, Dr. Hunt served in various academic and leadership roles at The College of New Rochelle, earning tenure as a faculty member and serving as faculty development chair and interim dean before becoming professor emerita in 2019. Her professional nursing and nurse administrator experience includes roles at New York Westchester Square Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center and Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, all in the Bronx.
Dr. Hunt earned her PhD in nursing with a minor in education from Adelphi in 2012, a Master of Science in nursing with a minor in administration from The College of New Rochelle in 1990, and a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Mercy College in 1986. Her research is widely published and presented, and she has authored five academic books on nursing and nursing education, published by Springer Publishing, including the soon-to-be-released Fast Facts for Patient Safety in Nursing: How to Decrease Medical Errors and Improve Patient Outcomes.
She also shares her leadership and expertise with the community, serving as co-chair of the Health and Human Services Committee of Bronx Community Board No.10, an agency of the City of New York tasked with issuing advisory opinions on a variety of matters for communities in the Bronx.
I’d like to thank Maryann Forbes, PhD ’99, for her service as interim dean since last December. Dr. Forbes has provided knowledgeable and steady leadership during this time of transition, and we greatly appreciate all her contributions. With the support of the faculty and administration of CNPH, she led the College through several important accreditation milestones and navigated a complex regulatory environment to provide high-quality educational experiences to future nurses in the midst of a pandemic.
I hope you will join me in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Hunt as she takes on this important leadership role for the College of Nursing and Public Health and contributes to our University’s successful future.
Sincerely,