RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences welcomes the appointment of Professor Mark White to the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery.

Professor White will lead the Faculty as Executive Dean of the Faculty as it continues to innovate in its ambition of delivering educational programmes to nurses and midwifes in Ireland. He will be responsible for working with the Dean and Faculty board in developing a new strategic plan in the coming months.

Professor White succeeds Professor Thomas Kearns who is retiring from the Faculty following a nine-year tenure.

Welcoming Dr White to RCSI, Professor Kearns said that the new Executive Dean who has over 35 years’ experience in nursing and academia will be an exceptional addition to the Faculty team and RCSI.

“Professor White has an extensive track record in successfully managing complex large scale research and change management projects in the health service, as well as leadership in academic research. He has the experience, competence and commitment to build on the Faculty’s extraordinary growth and achievements to date, and to bring it to the next level in line with RCSI’s own strategic ambition,” Professor Kearns said.

Affirming the welcome and supporting the appointment of Professor White, Dr Mary Boyd, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, commented: “The new Executive Dean position and expected appointment of two Executive Vice-Deans represents a pivotal moment for the Faculty and its expansion. Professor White and the expanded leadership team will enhance the extraordinary growth of the Faculty in recent years under Professor Kearns stewardship. We really appreciate the tireless work of Professor Kearns and all that he has achieved for the faculty and RCSI. I and the faculty board wish him well in his retirement. ”

Distinguished career

Professor White joins RCSI after four years as Vice President of Research Innovation and Graduate Studies at Ireland’s newest university, South East Technological University and was part of the Waterford Institute of Technology executive team that brought about the recent merger. He successfully managed and developed the SETU research portfolio making it amongst the best performing in the sector. 

Professor White has a long-established connection with RCSI having become a Fellow the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery in 2014 and serving on the board of the faculty until 2019. He is currently the president of Sigma Nursing’s only Irish chapter, Omega Epsilon and is an NHS Improvement Fellow and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). He has worked on many large-scale, high-profile projects in the HSE regularly disseminating implementation and evaluation lessons in a number of peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

His research interests include quality improvement, implementation, and compassion in practice. He currently sits on a number of national/international research committees and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Research in Nursing (SAGE).

Commenting on his recent appointment Professor White said he is extremely excited about joining the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery at RCSI and the many growth and development opportunities that lie ahead.

“I am very much looking forward to the challenge of building upon the already excellent work, success and reputation of the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery. A key focus for me over the coming months is working with the Dean and the Faculty board on developing a new strategic plan that will align and deliver the strategic aspirations of RCSI with the needs of the nursing and midwifery profession and allow the Faculty to reach its full potential,” said Professor White.

Diverse programmes

The RCSI Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery was founded in 1974 and has a proud tradition of delivering educational programmes to nurses and midwives in Ireland.
The Faculty is one of the longest-serving providers of nurse education in Ireland and has provided nurses and midwives, from a variety of clinical nursing specialties, with a diverse range of educational programmes.

Today, the Faculty focuses on the continuing education of qualified nurses and midwives and offers an extensive and diverse range of CPD programmes and an Overseas Aptitude Test for international nurses as a prerequisite to registration with the NMBI.