Jill Guttormson, Ph.D., MS, RN, professor of nursing, has been named the next permanent dean of the Marquette University College of Nursing, Provost Kimo Ah Yun announced today. Guttormson, who has served as acting dean of the college since January 2022 following Dr. Janet Krejci’s retirement, assumes the new role effective immediately.
Guttormson takes over leadership of the 29th ranked College of Nursing in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report, putting Marquette in the top 4% nationally among Bachelor of Science in nursing programs.
“Dr. Guttormson has demonstrated visionary, strategic leadership as acting dean of the College of Nursing, which is poised for transformational growth in the coming years. She is well positioned to move our highly ranked College of Nursing forward in creative and collaborative ways. I am looking forward to working closely with her, her leadership team and the nursing faculty to help the college execute on its strategic plan,” Provost Ah Yun said. “I also want to thank the search committee, led by Dr. Lisa Hanson, for their hard work in vetting and bringing forth an excellent slate of candidates.”
“I’m thrilled to lead Marquette’s College of Nursing at a time when we are focused on major growth to meet a serious societal need for nurses and nurse educators,” Guttormson said. “We are proud of our over 8,000 College of Nursing alumni, and we have bold plans to double the number of Marquette Nurses around the world to make an even bigger difference. Our nursing faculty and staff remain steadfast in our commitment to developing nurses who will advocate for the vulnerable and serve as social justice champions.”
Guttormson, who previously served as associate dean for academic affairs, has chaired the College of Nursing Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, the University Board of Undergraduate Studies and the University Committee on Teaching, was recognized in 2018 by the university for her commitment to teaching, receiving the Rev. John P. Raynor, S.J., Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in nursing education from the University of Minnesota. She joined the College of Nursing faculty in 2011 after earning her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. Guttormson’s research focuses on supporting best practices in critical care nursing and symptom management, and patient communication during mechanical ventilation with the goal of enhancing patient-centered care and the patient experience.
Marquette’s College of Nursing – top-ranked and poised for growth
The College of Nursing’s strategic plan calls for the college to prepare 5,000 nurses over the next decade and beyond. Of the 5,000 nurses, the college aspires to educate 1,000 Marquette Nurses from diverse backgrounds, grow Ph.D.-prepared faculty and lead in emerging areas, including telehealth education and the mitigation of health care disparities with a more diverse workforce. Recognizing the rapidly changing health care environment, the plans will meet a pressing need to develop future nurse leaders.
To accommodate this ambitious growth plan, the college will move to a renovated and expanded David A. Straz, Jr. Hall in 2024. The project will be funded through a combination of philanthropy and increased revenues from program growth.
U.S. News and World Report ranked Marquette’s undergraduate nursing program 29th in the nation (2023). The College of Nursing’s Master of Science program is ranked 61st (2023); its Doctor of Nursing Practice program is ranked 85th (2023); and the Nurse Midwifery program is 20th (2016). U.S. News ranked Marquette’s online graduate nursing program 38th in 2022, up from 47th in 2021. New for 2022, the college’s online program was also ranked 9th nationally for veterans and 12th in the Nursing Administration/Leadership specialty category.