Lisa Plowfield, associate professor of nursing, has been appointed chairperson of the CHNS Department of Nursing, effective Sept. 1. She succeeds Mary Ann Miller, who was acting chairperson from 2001-02.

A member of the faculty since 1993, Plowfield recently won two national awards. She was selected as a Hartford Institute Geriatric Nursing Research Scholar for the summer of 2002 and was named a fellow in the Leadership for Academic Nursing Program of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

The Hartford Institute program, funded through the New York-based John A. Hartford Foundation, promotes health care, training and research that ensures the well-being and vitality of older adults. The foundation helps nurse researchers interested in geriatric health concerns develop networks with their colleagues by focusing on their selected research topics. Plowfield's research deals with care-giving issues for families with frail, elderly members.

Plowfield's academic leadership experience with AACN, in which she will participate during the next year, will involve leadership conferences and mentoring. The AACN is a national organization representing more than 550 public and private universities.

"Serving as a fellow in this program should provide me with an opportunity to gain greater skills and insight into the areas associated with academic leadership," Plowfield says.

At UD, she has served as director of the Nursing Center and director of the CHNS Center for Academic Practice. She earned her master's degree in trauma/critical care nursing from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and her doctorate from the University of Virginia.

--Erin O'Leary, AS 2003