HooverDr. Kim Hoover has been named dean of the University of Mississippi School of Nursing, effective today.
Hoover has served as interim dean since the departure of Dr. Kaye Bender in the spring of 2009. Her appointment follows a nationwide search.
"Dr. Hoover has demonstrated the vision, creativity, intellect and collaborative spirit that are essential to lead the School of Nursing in this period of challenge and opportunity," said Dr. James Keeton, vice chancellor for health affairs.
"In particular, she has continued to build on the tradition of a close working partnership between the School of Nursing and the professional nurses and nursing leadership in our health system."
Hoover earned her B.S. in nursing from Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe and spent more than eight years working as a staff nurse and a clinical manager at Natchez Regional Medical Center.
She earned her master's in nursing from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1994, followed by her Ph.D. in clinical health sciences in 2000. She was on the nursing faculty of Alcorn State University before joining the UMMC faculty in 2003 as professor and associate dean for academic program development and evaluation.
Most recently, she has served as associate dean for research and evaluation. She holds a dual appointment as professor in the School of Health Related Professions.
For more than seven years, Hoover was instrumental in building the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce, one of the most active and widely cited nursing centers in the country. She has served as project director, director of research and research consultant, and her work included the annual collection, analysis and dissemination of comprehensive nursing workforce data for Mississippi.
She is a member of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science and the American Organization of Nurse Executives, among other groups, and has compiled an impressive record of scholarship in her academic career.