EDITED BY: Rod Hicks, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN
From the bedside to the classroom to the boardroom, Mary Lopez, PhD, MSN, RN is a nurse leader making a difference. Several years ago, Mary was a critical care nurse in a county hospital, making a difference for one patient at a time. It was not long before she began the leadership journey. Along the way, she picked up a few titles, charge nurse, head nurse, division director, and Chief Nursing Officer; all roles where she was a natural fit. Also along the journey, she met another leader who encouraged her to obtain a doctoral degree in nursing. There is still a debate today about who encouraged who to get their next degree, but in the end, both did.
Dr. Lopez’s leadership journey continued at the College of Graduate Nursing (CGN), where she joined as an assistant professor. Her influence quickly spread as she took on the role of director for the Master of Science in Nursing – Entry program. Under her guidance, CGN saw significant advancements, including the creation of a Community of Scholars. The Community of Scholars seeks to embrace the power of nurses in creating and defining nursing science. She was a member of the CGN leadership team that saw the development of the first accredited Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Southern California, the nation’s first Master of Nursing with an emphasis on Ambulatory Care Nursing, and an expansion of the simulation center. All programs that have propelled healthcare in the Inland Empire.
Dr. Lopez became the College’s second dean seven years ago. She led the college through a pandemic, a move, and program expansion with the addition of a psychiatric mental health practitioner and an emergency nurse practitioner program, the first west of Houston, Texas. During this time, she watched the Master of Science in Nursing-Entry and the Doctor of Nursing Practice programs undergo transformation and growth. With her leadership, the College received more than $25 million in grant funding. She simply set the vision for CGN and others just followed.
Dean Lopez remains connected to patient care activities in the community. She has had a long-standing role as a nurse scientist at two different facilities where she mentors others to improve patient outcomes. She is also a board member of San Antonio Regional Hospital where she helps set the hospital’s future direction.
A quote from Florence Nightingale about herself is also a reflection of Dean Mary Lopez, PhD, MSN, RN.
“If I could give you information of my life it would be to show how a woman of very ordinary ability has been led by God in strange and unaccustomed paths to do in His service what He has done in her”.