Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, began her appointment as Dean of Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) in 2009, and has since developed and executed a comprehensive strategic plan to position NHWSN at the forefront of nursing research, education, and policy. The school has risen from its No. 26 ranking in 2011 to the second year in its current position as No. 1 in US News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Nursing Schools” and ranked No. 2 in the undergraduate rankings as well.

Dr. McCauley serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM’s) Governing Council and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC). She is Chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee to Conduct a Feasibility of Assessing Veteran Health Effects of Manhattan Project (1942-1947) Related Waste and is a member of the Governing Board of the National Research Council (NRC).  In 2020, she was named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and, in 2016, she was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Hall of Fame. She is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Occupational Health Nurses as well. Dean McCauley is thought of as an entrepreneurial leader and is a sought-after expert in nursing business and innovation.