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Sonya R. Hardin, PhD, RN, APRN, FAAN

Patty L. Hawken Nursing Endowed Professor Dean, School of Nursing

Dean, School of Nursing

Professor

Dr. Hardin has had a distinguished career touching all aspects of academic nursing. She has broad experience in nursing school administration and patient care, as well as research, fundraising and collaboration with academia and industry to advance health in her communities. In addition, she has experience as a critical care and advanced practice nurse on the inpatient and outpatient sides of health care.

Her proven expertise in acute- and critical-care nursing has been recognized with an appointment to the task force of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to revise standards for educating critical-care nurses. Additionally, her authoritative research on aging and the management of chronic diseases has been supported by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Hardin is a principled leader who builds consensus while establishing priorities to help institutions achieve their strategic vision. She is recognized for building strong collaborations between academia and industry parties and by working across academic units, as well as multiple campuses, to ensure university success. She is a proponent of diversity, equity and inclusion and also a strong advocate for nursing within the institutions and communities she has served.  And

Dr. Hardin describes her approach as relational leadership. She believes a great leader develops positive relationships within the organization to bring about success, and that leaders must hold an enterprise mindset to be open to improvement for organizations to thrive.

Dr. Hardin previously held the position of tenured professor and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Louisville. Prior to her 2018 appointment as dean of the nursing school at Louisville, Dr. Hardin served as professor and associate dean of graduate nursing programs at East Carolina University, and professor and coordinator of the nurse practitioner program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

She has also held hospital positions including chief nursing officer, membership on the University of Louisville Hospital Board and co-manager of a neurology practice. In academic health care, she served as program coordinator of a nurse practitioner program, a dual-degree program in health administration and has experience starting Psychiatric NP and nurse anesthesia programs.