About
Lin Zhan, PhD, RN, FAAN, was appointed as the 8th dean of the UCLA School of Nursing in 2021 after a national search. Prior to her UCLA appointment, Dr. Zhan served as the dean for the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing for nearly 11 years as the chief academic officer for the college’s programs on two campuses in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee. Prior to her Memphis Loewenberg College appointment, Dr. Zhan served as the founding dean for the school of nursing at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health sciences in Boston, in charge of three campuses located in Boston (Massachusetts), Worcester (Massachusetts), and Manchester (New Hampshire).
Dr. Zhan’s research and scholarly work has focused on 1) improving health for the vulnerable populations such as Asian American Immigrants, 2) developing valid and culturally appropriate measures for health-related behaviors, and 3) higher education diversity and workforce development. Dr. Zhan has published more than 100 articles, edited six books, and obtained funded projects of over several millions of dollars, and is frequently invited to give keynote speeches and professional presentations nationally and globally.
Dr. Zhan was inducted as a Fellow of American Academy of Nursing in 2001 for her outstanding, sustainable, and high impact contributions to improve health for the vulnerable groups. Since then, she has served on the Academy’s expert panel on aging and global health, the Academy’s fellow selection committee, and this year she was invited to serve on the Academy’s newly established international fellow selection committee. As the Dean of Nursing, Dr. Zhan has been elected 4 times by AACN members to serve on the Board of Directors and served two terms as Treasurer of the AACN. She was on the advisory group to issue the AACN position statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and served on the AACN New Essentials Leadership Team. Scholarly, she serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Gerontological Nursing and the Journal of Aging and Geriatric Medicine. In 2020, Zhan was named as one of the “Visionaries in Geriatric Nursing: A Legacy for the Future” in the Journal of Geriatric Nursing. In 2023, Dr. Zhan was invited to serve as a mentor for global women leadership development program.
Dr. Zhan is the recipient of numerous honors and awards ranging from “the best book of a year Award” by the American Journal of Nursing, Community Outreach Service Award, to outstanding Leadership Award in Nursing and Education.