Dean

Dr. Heather Hall, PhD, RN, NNP-BC knows the value of inspiration. As a young woman she was inspired to follow a path leading to a career as a neonatal nurse. Now, as dean of the University of South Alabama College of Nursing, she enjoys the opportunity to inspire others to a nursing career.

The demand for nurses is enormous, making this an ideal time to encourage students toward this challenging and rewarding career, Hall says.

Hall earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at the University of South Alabama and her Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. She worked first as a Registered Nurse and later as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner at the Hollis J. Wiseman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, then joined the College of Nursing faculty teaching maternal/child nursing before moving into the CON administration. She was named Dean in 2018.

An active researcher with numerous publications and presentations, she continues to participate in the three key research areas of the College of Nursing — obesity prevention, health disparities and pediatric issues.

Hall completed a Fellowship in the Leadership of Academic Nursing Program of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Provost Faculty Fellow at the University of South Alabama and Fellow of the Wharton Executive Leadership Program of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Hall has been honored by the University with the Faculty Scholarship Award, by the Roy Adaptation Association with the Lissie Velasco Whetsell Award and by the Zeta Gamma Chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society with the Excellence in Nursing Education Award.