UCSF School of Nursing - UCSF - University of California, San ...

On January 1, Bill Holzemer became
Associate Dean for International Programs,
a newly created service within
the UCSF School of Nursing. “We are
formalizing our commitment to international
training and collaborative research,”
says Holzemer.
Dean Kathleen Dracup, who created
the office, says the time was right to
identify an office that would structure
and organize existing projects and initiatives,
as well as create new collaborations
and opportunities. “As a new
dean, it became clear to me that we have
a very long and unique history of research
and activity done on an international
scale,” Dracup explains.
Over the years, numerous faculty
members have conducted research in
other countries. In addition, nurses
from around the world have come to
UCSF for their graduate training. Many
of these scholars have then returned to
their home countries to become leaders
in health care and have even set up programs
in nursing education.
Holzemer has long conducted international
research, mostly in Africa and
Asia. In South Africa, he is working
with four nursing schools on a project to
improve symptom management for HIV/
AIDS patients being cared for in the
home. Holzemer has also been involved
in international efforts to improve nursing
training. He says his new job will be
to further develop and strengthen the
school’s prominence and reach on a
worldwide scale. The school’s history of
Bill Holzemer, new Associate Dean for International
Programs, is always on the move.
international research and collaboration
has resulted in many productive
relationships with individuals, schools
and government institutions around the
globe. ”The role of this position is to
nurture and facilitate these relationships,”
Holzemer says.
Holzemer, who has been at the School
since 1979, has a long history of leadership
in the academic nursing community.
He is the director of the UCSF International
Center for HIV/AIDS Research &
Clinical Training in Nursing and a visiting
professor at St. Luke’s College of
Nursing in Tokyo, Japan. He spent a year
as a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt and has
won numerous other national and international
awards for his research. He has
served on the editorial boards of various
peer-reviewed journals. He has also held
positions on the boards of various national
and international bodies responsible
for overseeing the practice of nursing,
including his current appointment to
the Commission on Graduates of Foreign
Nursing Schools.
Holzemer adds that he will be looking
to the school’s faculty for input on how to
increase faculty and student exchanges,
as well as to support research abroad. “We
will be talking with faculty about what
they want and need, what their hopes and
expectations are for this office.”
Among Holzemer’s new responsibilities
is to serve as the director of the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) Collaborating
Center for Clinical Research
and Training in Nursing at UCSF. The