Julie Sanford, DNS

Dean of the School of Nursing

Julie Sanford stepped into her role as professor and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2019.

A native of Wilmer, Alabama, near Mobile, Sanford earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Alabama’s Capstone College of Nursing before completing a Master of Science in Nursing in Adult Health Nursing and Nursing Education at the University of South Alabama. She earned a Doctor of Nursing Science degree from Louisiana State University in 2002.

Sanford completed fellowships in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Leadership in Academic Nursing Program in 2011 and Executive Leadership in 2015. She was named as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2017.

Prior to joining UMMC, Sanford was professor and director of the School of Nursing at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, from 2011 to 2019 and professor at the University of South Alabama and the Health Resources and Services Administration grant project director of their BSN-to-DNP adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner program from 2006 to 2011.

Sanford taught nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi as an associate professor and was associate director for undergraduate studies in 2005 and, from 2000 to 2005, she was an assistant professor at Spring Hill College’s Division of Nursing in Mobile. She was previously at the University of South Alabama from 1985 to 2000, serving in roles including clinical assistant professor, critical care coordinator, patient education, staff development and emergency department clinical nurse.

Her nursing career began at Mercy Hospital’s intensive care unit and step-down unit in New Orleans in 1984.

Under her leadership, programs in the School of Nursing at UMMC have been ranked highest in Mississippi and in the top 100 nationally by U.S. News and World Report.

She and her husband Bob live in Brandon and have three grown sons and two grandchildren.