U-M School of Nursing appoints new Ph.D. program director
Associate Professor Sarah Stoddard, Ph.D., RN, CNP, FSAHM, has been named the new director of the University of Michigan School of Nursing’s Ph.D. program.
Stoddard is an accomplished researcher and public health nurse practitioner who has dedicated her career to promoting the health and well-being of adolescents in communities facing substantial health and social disparities. Stoddard is widely recognized for her leadership in adolescent health and her interdisciplinary research to prevent substance use and violence among vulnerable youth populations.
“Dr. Stoddard has extensive expertise mentoring students and learners at all levels across a range of disciplines,” said U-M School of Nursing Dean Patricia D. Hurn, Ph.D., RN. “She has a wealth of experience guiding dissertations for students across campus, which will serve us well as she leads our Ph.D. program in its next phases of growth and innovation.”
In addition to her roles at the School of Nursing, Stoddard also serves as director of the U-M Injury Prevention Center’s Training and Education Core and is a research affiliate in the university’s Institute for Social Research, Center for Human Growth and Development and Institute on Women and Gender.
Stoddard’s appointment follows news of the impending departure of Professor Ellen Smith, Ph.D., MSN, RN, AOCN, FAAN, who led the Ph.D. program for the last six years. In June, Smith will begin a new position as assistant dean of research and scholarship and Marie O’Koren Endowed Chair at the University of Alabama Birmingham.
“I want to thank Dr. Smith for her passion and leadership of the Ph.D. program over the years,” Hurn said. “She has created an environment of scholarship, inclusivity and fairness to all. Her mindfulness of student success at all times in all that we do sets a high bar for our community.”
The U-M School of Nursing is one of the first in the country to offer a Ph.D. in the nursing field. The program aims to develop researchers who will lead new discoveries to improve patient care and the health care system as a whole, preparing nurse scientists with a focus on research design, data analysis and inferential processes. Learn more about U-M’s Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing.
