Immaculata Names Founding Dean for College of Nursing and Health Professions

Immaculata University announces that Ridley Park, Pennsylvania resident Mary Powell, PhD, CRNP, CDCES, has been named as the founding dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP). She began her new role on January 1, 2023, with the launch of CNHP set for fall 2023.

“We are grateful to have Mary Powell’s depth of health care and higher ed experience as she leads the students, faculty and staff of the new College of Nursing and Health Professions,” stated Immaculata President Barbara Lettiere ’72. “She will ensure that our students are prepared for in-demand professions and will position the new college at the forefront of health care education.”

As a registered nurse with over 40 years’ experience in nursing and teaching, Powell came to Immaculata during the fall 2022 semester to teach graduate-level nursing students. Currently, she is collaborating with faculty to develop a Family Nurse Practitioner program in response to health care market needs.

She began her career at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania after graduating from the Chester County Hospital School of Nursing. Her clinical experience includes medical surgical nursing, pediatric primary care, hospice and palliative care, and most recently primary care with a focus of working with patients with type 2 diabetes. Powell has also taught at multiple colleges and universities, including Radford University School of Nursing, Neumann University, Thomas Jefferson University and Widener University School of Nursing Clinics.

Committed to lifelong learning, Powell received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Eastern College and Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also earned a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America, concentrating in nursing research and chronic illness, and she was awarded the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Studies and Research. In 2016, Powell received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching from Neumann University.

Powell is also a published peer-reviewed author with publications in topics such as systemic lupus erythematosus, nonpharmacologic care in heart failure, health literacy, and others. She has presented more than 15 times at the local, regional, national and international levels. She presented in Ireland on a strategy to improve health literacy for the Annual Health Literacy UK Conference. This year, Powell will present An Introduction to the Social Determinants of Health at the Project W: Women’s Connect Series. She has also received over $2.8 million dollars in federal funding to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce.