Lisa Levinson, Ph.D., RN, who led Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing in an interim capacity for two years, has been named the new dean of the nursing school.
Dr. Levinson, a registered nurse and a perinatal clinical nurse specialist, has been at Shenandoah since 2006. She began as an adjunct professor at SU before joining the faculty as an assistant professor in 2015. Levinson then served as the nursing school’s associate dean for undergraduate programs before taking over as the school’s interim dean in Fall 2021.
Shenandoah University Interim Provost Karen Abraham, Ph.D., PT, announced Levinson’s appointment on Sept. 18, noting that Levinson was unanimously recommended for the role by the search committee and was “enthusiastically supported” by SU’s administration.
Dr. Levinson provided outstanding leadership of the School of Nursing during her two years as interim dean. I am deeply grateful that she is willing to continue to serve in this capacity. Dr. Levinson’s vision, compassion, dedication, and passion for the nursing profession have already enabled the School of Nursing to grow in extraordinary ways. I look forward to the continued growth and success of the School of Nursing in the future.”
Karen Abraham, Ph.D., Shenandoah University interim provost
Shenandoah’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program consistently produces one of the top first-time NCLEX pass rates in the state, boasting a 98.65% pass rate for the 2022-23 academic year, over 10 points higher than the national average. At the graduate level, the nursing school’s Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs have 100% pass rates.
U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shenandoah’s undergraduate nursing program among the best offered by private colleges and universities in Virginia, listing it second among Virginia private schools in its 2024 list.
Shenandoah’s School of Nursing has also earned a College of Distinction national recognition.
Under Levinson’s leadership, the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing has also partnered with Valley Health on NextGen Nurses, a state-funded program which aims to address the regional and nationwide nursing shortage by drawing on the expertise of semi-retired and retiring nurses to help train the next generation of nurses.
I am honored to be selected as the dean of the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing at Shenandoah University. I look forward to the continued work with everyone to support the mission of the university, the School of Nursing, and the nursing profession.”
Lisa Levinson, Ph.D., RN, dean of Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing
Levinson earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, and recently completed her Ph.D. in Nursing from The Catholic University of America. Her research interests include the nursing care of pregnant women who use and misuse opioids.
Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing has approximately 400 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs, which include Four-Year, Transfer, and Accelerated Second Degree BSN tracks; Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwifery Master of Science in Nursing degrees; Doctor of Nursing Practice; and Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse-Midwifery post-graduate certificates. Programs are offered at Shenandoah’s main campus in Winchester, Virginia; Scholar Plaza, Leesburg; and online.
For more information, visit su.edu/nursing.
