NEW LONDON, N.H. – Colby-Sawyer College has named Joan Loftus, associate professor of Nursing, as dean of its School of Nursing and Health Professions and Shari Goldberg, professor of Nursing and Public Health, as associate dean. Both professors assume their roles July 1.

As dean, Dr. Loftus will oversee the undergraduate and master’s nursing programs; provide support and development for the school’s faculty; and sit on Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s medical education committee. She succeeds Susan Reeves ’88, who joined the college in 2003 and last summer was named Chief Nursing Executive for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) Health System and in February was appointed as Executive Vice President for D-H Research and Education.

Dr. Loftus joined the faculty at Colby-Sawyer in 2008 and has more than a dozen years’ experience at D-H with expertise in critical care nursing, geriatrics and evidence-based nursing practice. She holds a B.S. in nursing from Wilkes College, an M.S. in nursing from Georgetown University and a D.N.P. from Wilkes University.

“Dr. Loftus assumed operational leadership and oversight of the undergraduate nursing programs last year with Dr. Reeves’s appointments at D-H, and after this successful year of transition, Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculty Laura Sykes and I are delighted that she will become the Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions,” President Susan D. Stuebner said. “Colby-Sawyer is fortunate to have the leadership and talents of both Dr. Loftus and Dr. Goldberg. And, I am exceedingly grateful to Dr. Reeves for her transformative leadership and for her continuing efforts to deepen the partnership between Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Colby-Sawyer. She has made significant, long-lasting contributions to her alma mater.”

In 2016, Dr. Loftus accepted a commendation from then-New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan that recognized the members of Colby-Sawyer’s 2016 undergraduate nursing class, which achieved a 100 percent pass rate of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) on their first attempt. The members of the Classes of 2017 and 2018 achieved the same distinction of a 100 percent pass rate on their first attempts, as well.

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue the great work that Sue Reeves has done here at Colby-Sawyer,” Dr. Loftus said. “It has been an absolute pleasure working with her over the past ten years, and I look forward to the work we will continue to do together to further strengthen our partnership with D-H.”

As associate dean, Dr. Goldberg will continue her leadership of the Public Health Program and assume leadership of the RN to BS program. She has taught at Colby-Sawyer since 2000 and played a central role in developing the public health, RN to BS and MS in Nursing programs Her areas of expertise include community and public health, the development and sustainability of academic-community partnerships, and health promotion behaviors. Dr. Goldberg has served on the State of N.H. Public Health Improvement Services Council, and participated in a national effort aimed at integrating public health into undergraduate liberal arts education. She holds a B.S. in nursing from the University of New Hampshire, a M.S. in nursing from Boston College and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

About Nursing at Colby-Sawyer College

The Colby-Sawyer College Nursing Program was established in 1981 in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, its clinical education facility. It is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. The undergraduate nursing major combines clinical work at the world-class Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center with hands-on learning in campus classrooms and simulation laboratories, as well as individual and group research.

This spring, 100 percent of Colby-Sawyer’s first cohort of Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) students passed the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) certification exam on their first attempt.

Colby-Sawyer’s online RN to BS program provides a flexible and affordable way for practicing nurses with associate degrees to earn their undergraduate degree.

Learn more at colby-sawyer.edu/nursing.