UofL faculty graduate from the 2010 HERS Denver Institute

Marcia Hern, EdD, CNS, RN, dean and professor, School of Nursing; Cynthia Logsdon, PhD, ARNP, FAAN, professor, School of Nursing; and Deborah Winders Davis, DNS, professor, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, all completed the program this fall.

"No matter the leadership role an individual currently holds, further leadership development is beneficial given the ever changing economic, political and societal factors that will impact higher education," Hern said. "Such development helps to use new strategies and view challenges with a different lens."

Since 2007, the HERS Institute for Women in Higher Education has annually offered women faculty and administrators the opportunity to participate in an intensive program that prepares them to be leaders in higher education.

“The HERS Institute was instrumental in widening my horizons to see the big picture of issues facing higher academics today.” Logsdon said. “Unique in focus, HERS helps leaders to analyze their gifts and strengths and to apply those skills to their home institution. I look forward to using the information that I learned in my work at University of Louisville Hospital and at wider University of Louisville.”

The 55 participants selected for this year’s Institute represented 46 institutions across the U.S. Responding to the current environment for higher education globally, the Institute had a special focus this year on “Women’s Leadership in Times of Crisis: Leveraging Our Responses for Institutional Renewal.” Topics studied included “Understanding Our New Economic Environment,” “Planning Our Strategies beyond Recovery,” “Empowering and Sustaining Leadership,” and more.

For more information about HERS, visit www.hersnet.org.