Biography

UVA School of Nursing’s seventh dean, Marianne Baernholdt, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, has dedicated the expanse of her nursing career to teaching and mentoring students and junior faculty. A leading scholar of care quality and safety with an emphasis on healthcare in rural and global environments, she is also a champion of clinician well-being and workforce development. 
 
Since becoming dean in 2022, Baernholdt has focused her work in several key areas, guided by the School’s 2030 Strategic Plan, including expanding nursing program pathways, establishing new on-ramps for nursing faculty, making market adjustments to strengthen and align faculty salaries, and deepening ties to UVA Health by assisting with on-boarding, mentoring, and retention programs. 

Prior to her tenure at UVA, Dean Baernholdt was associate dean of global initiatives, interim dean of research, and a founding director of UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing’s Pan American Health Organization/WHO Collaborating Center in Quality and Safety Education in Nursing and Midwifery. At Virginia Commonwealth University, she was founding director of the Langston Center for Quality, Safety, and Innovation. With degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Pace, and the Bispebjerg School of Nursing in her native Denmark, Baernholdt was named a Virginia Business magazine “Top Person to Meet in 2023,” and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.  

During Dean Baernholdt’s tenure, the School has been named a “Best School for Men in Nursing” by the American Association for Men in Nursing and remains in the top 3% of American graduate nursing programs, and Virginia’s best, according to U.S. News & World Report.