University of California professor named dean of nursing school

Catherine Lynch Gilliss, D.N.Sc., chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, has been named dean of the Yale School of Nursing for a five-year term beginning July 1. She will succeed Judith B. Krauss, M.S.N., who joined the nursing school faculty 26 years ago and has served as dean for nearly 13 years.

Dr. Gilliss, a certified adult nurse practitioner, has taught at the University of California since 1984, where she received her doctor of nursing science degree and completed a postdoctoral fellowship. She previously held teaching positions at several universities including The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the University of Maryland and the University of Portland, where she serves as a trustee.

Her research has focused on innovative models of nursing intervention for patients and their families, especially during recovery from life-threatening illnesses such as coronary bypass surgery. Most recently, she completed an enumerative study of the primary care work force in the state of California.

During her tenure, Dean Krauss has made several key appointments to the faculty and overseen the expansion of the school's research programs. A new doctoral program was added in 1994, and the school moved to newly renovated state-of-the-art teaching facilities in 1995. In addition, the school has strengthened and developed new clinical partnerships with several clinical agencies throughout Connecticut. A noted authority on the care of people with serious and persistent mental disorders, Dean Krauss will return to a teaching and mental health policy role on the faculty.