Thompson named dean of College of Nursing

Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson has been appointed dean of the College of Nursing and will assume the role Aug. 27. She replaces retiring Dean Pat Moritz.  Moritz has been part of the university for more than 20 years, and after becoming dean, oversaw the college’s growth as a top nursing school.

Thompson is a professor and the associate dean of academic programs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing. She brings with her a wealth of leadership and clinical care experience as well as considerable accomplishments in research.

“The College of Nursing has a strong foundation in all of its missions: education, practice and research. It’s poised to grow in all of these areas,” Thompson said. “It’s a real honor to have been chosen its dean.”

Thompson said what stood out was the vitality of the Anschutz Medical Campus as well as its connection with the urban Denver campus. She has lived in the Midwest her entire life and finds Colorado to be a natural extension of her time in Nebraska and Kansas. She earned her Ph.D. and master’s at the University of Kansas and her bachelor’s of nursing at the University of Oklahoma. Thompson also holds a certificate in gerontology.

She has taught at all levels in nursing and has practiced intensive care and hospice nursing.  A nurse scientist herself, Thompson recently completed an NIH-funded study focused on end-of-life outcomes for nursing home residents.