Gunby Retires as Georgia Baptist College of Nursing Dean

5/22/2009

Susan S. Gunby, RN, PhD, dean of Mercer University’s Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, will retire from the post effective July 1, 2009 after more than 20 years in the position. Dr. Gunby is a member of the Georgia CORE Board of Directors and holds a professorship in the College. She will return to full-time teaching upon retirement. Dr. Gunby led the school’s transition to a free-standing college in 1989- making Georgia Baptist the first independent college of nursing accredited by the Commission on Colleges of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. She also guided the college through its transitions in nursing education as well as its merger with Mercer University, which was completed in 2001. Most recently, Dr. Gunby directed the College’s development of a Ph.D. program in nursing, which is set to launch fall 2009 and assist with goal of increasing nurse educators in the state. She is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s program committee for the Executive Development Series, a member of the Georgia Board of Nursing Education Committee, past president of the Georgia League for Nursing, member of the Editorial Review Board for the International Journal for Human Caring, and a member of the board of directors and chair of publications for the American Association for the History of Nursing. She is actively involved with the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Dr. Gunby’s areas of expertise in research, publications and presentations, include qualitative research methods, pain and suffering, ethics, and historical perspectives in nursing/health care. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgia State University in Atlanta, a Master’s in Nursing from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, and her Doctorate in Nursing Education from Georgia State University.