Jean Brown Named Interim Dean of UB School of Nursing

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jean K. Brown., Ph.D., professor and associate dean of the University at Buffalo School of Nursing, was named interim dean of the nursing school Nov. 14 following the resignation due to illness of Mecca S. Cranley, Ph.D.

Cranley subsequently died on Nov. 20.

David L. Dunn, M.D., UB vice president for health sciences, said a national search for a new dean for the nursing school will begin immediately, with the goal of having a new dean in place by November 2007.

Brown, who was named associate dean for academic affairs in August 2002, served as the school's acting dean from December 2005 through August 2006.

A specialist in nursing oncology, Brown is principal investigator on a $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute to study the use of multivitamins and minerals during cancer therapy.

She also is principal investigator on a $1.3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to fund the UB nursing school's accelerated bachelor's degree program, which allows individuals holding degrees in other fields to receive a bachelor's degree in nursing in 12 months.

Brown earned a nursing diploma from the Fairview Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, Minn., and completed bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and two years of post-doctoral study at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She held several positions at her alma mater before coming to UB in 1993 as an assistant professor; she was one of Cranley's first new faculty recruits.

Brown was promoted to associate professor of nursing in 1999 and to professor in 2005. She holds adjunct professorships in nutrition and rehabilitation sciences in the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions.

She was co-recipient of the Oncology Nursing Society's Publishing Division ONF 2005 Quality of Life Award at its 31st Annual Congress in 2006 for her paper, "Quality of life and meaning of illness of women with lung cancer."

She won the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and the sustained Achievement Award from UB in 2003, and holds several additional honors.

The author or co-author of 40 papers in refereed journals, Brown also has written five book chapters on aspects of cancer nursing, and has lectured widely.

She is a resident of Stafford.