Valerie Howard, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN

Valerie Howard, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, is the eighth dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Howard is a nationally recognized academic innovator and an accomplished higher education leader. Prior to joining Carolina Nursing in August 2022, Howard served as vice dean for academic affairs and clinical professor in the School of Nursing at Duke University.

As vice dean, Howard was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of four academic degree programs and 20 specialties and certificate programs, many of which are ranked first or second in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. She oversaw admissions, course quality, program accreditation and support services that serve the school’s 1,150 students. In addition, she implemented numerous initiatives focused on academic excellence, including supporting innovation and faculty development in teaching, adopting new standards for online education and launching a student success center.

Howard also leads the North Carolina Future of Nursing Action Coalition, a volunteer organization focused on improving health equity across the state in response to the National Academy of Medicine’s Future of Nursing Recommendations. She has also served as president of the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning and is a fellow in the NLN Academic of Nursing Education, the Wharton-AACN Executive Leadership program and the American Academy of Nursing.

Prior to her appointment at Duke, Howard was at the Robert Morris University School of Nursing and Health Sciences where she held numerous faculty and administrator positions, rising from an assistant professor in 2004 to dean of the school and university professor of nursing in 2013. Working closely with the president’s office, institutional advancement and others, she helped raise nearly $8 million toward new programs and initiatives, including the construction of Scaife Hall in 2016.

While at RMU, Howard founded the Regional Research and Innovation in Simulation Education Center (RISE), a center of excellence for simulation training largely based on her own research. Howard helped develop the Elsevier Simulation Learning System, one of the first simulation learning systems, which is now used by 400 schools across the country to support faculty and enhance student learning outcomes. The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation recognized Howard for her work in simulation with its excellence in research award in 2010. She also helped create and disseminate the first set of standards for the use of simulation, which have been adopted by nursing and health care educators across the globe.

In addition, Howard developed partnerships in Nicaragua, Scotland, South Africa and Australia to provide critical international experiences for faculty and students from 2013–2018 and served as a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong School of Nursing in 2019. She earned a doctorate in higher education administration and a master of science in nursing education at the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor of science in nursing at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.