Theresa Wurmser, M.P.H., Ph.D., RN, is the new dean of the Georgian Court University–Hackensack Meridian Health School of Nursing. Dr. Wurmser, named to the job July 1, is the inaugural dean of the university’s nursing school, home to the fastest-growing academic program at GCU.
“Dr. Wurmser’s passion for students, and her commitment to improving the health of communities and the lives of individual patients are among the many reasons she was chosen to lead the Georgian Court–Hackensack Meridian Health School of Nursing,” said GCU President Dr. Joseph R. Marbach, Ph.D. “She is a firm believer in fostering a culture of excellence so that students are prepared to provide high-quality, evidence-based care.”
Dr. Wurmser also directs the Ann May Center for Nursing for the Hackensack Meridian Health network, which she has done for more than 20 years.
Training the Future Workforce
Creating a robust pipeline for new nurses is especially important to Dr. Wurmser, given the profession’s projected shortage as veteran nurses retire. She advocates regionally and nationally for undergraduate- and graduate-level nursing programs.
In 2008, Dr. Wurmser helped launch the GCU nursing program—the first four-year B.S.N. program in Ocean County. The program has seen triple-digit growth in the last several years and now enrolls nearly 400 nursing students from across Central and South New Jersey.
By graduation, more than 90 percent of GCU–HMH nursing graduates are employed—often by Hackensack Meridian Health facilities across the state. As a result, GCU nursing graduates serve families and patients throughout Ocean, Monmouth, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Middlesex counties.
Leading and Serving Through Nursing
“Dr. Wurmser brings a lifetime of vision and more importantly, action, to the profession,” said GCU Provost Janice Warner, Ph.D. “She is a scholar in her field and respected as a leader by her colleagues on campus and at Hackensack Meridian Health.”
Beyond GCU, Dr. Wurmser is currently the principal investigator for more than $9.5 million in grant-funded projects backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the federal Health Resources Services Administration, and private foundations. She previously served at Thomas Edison State College, Monmouth University, and Brookdale Community College and in various nursing roles at Methodist Hospital and Lutheran Medical Center, both in Brooklyn, New York.
