A Conversation with Danny Willis, Dean, URI College of Nursing

Danny Willis became dean of the URI College of Nursing in January 2024. A nationally respected education leader and practitioner, Willis comes to the University after serving as dean and tenured professor at Saint Louis University and has served as chair of the American Psychiatric Nursing Association Research Council and the American Academy of Nursing Expert Panel on Nursing Theory Guided Practice. The URI Foundation and Alumni Engagement connected with Dean Willis to talk about the future of the college under his leadership.

Q: How does your experience as a researcher and practitioner affect how you approach leadership at the College of Nursing?

A: It is integral. I am a leader who is anchored in science and the discovery process (research) on the one hand, and who understands and has experienced compassion and the deep value of health—the alleviation of the suffering inherent in the human condition (practitioner)—on the other. I draw upon data and evidence and a heart of caring in order to develop solutions that are both balanced and creative.

Science and intellectual curiosity are the basis for discovery and nursing education—and are also important for effective leadership. For example, as a researcher and practitioner, I ask a lot of questions. As Dean of the College of Nursing, I do the same thing with our faculty and students, consistently challenging them to think about who they are being and becoming. My life experiences have taught me that everything is always changing, evolving, unfolding. So, while one question might be answered partially or completely at a particular moment in time, it does not always remain answered: there are always more unanswered questions and unexplored pathways that can be addressed with care and curiosity.

And isn’t that exactly how it is in leadership? Yes! Every day leads me to data, people, ideas, shifts in understanding, and new opportunities and challenges, whereby I must reflect, make decisions, use solution-focused inquiry, and support others through my caring presence, resource allocation, and wisdom. The work of leadership keeps me on my toes, so to speak. It is always exciting, evolving, and challenging.

Q: What about the College of Nursing do you find most exciting when you think about its future? What are the most promising avenues for improvement, in your estimation?

A: Our College of Nursing is a national model of excellence in preparing nurse leaders who transform peoples’ well-being and their environments through research, education, and policy. I am excited that our community fosters intellectual curiosity, innovation, and invites discovery.

Promising avenues include our focus on Ph.D. education to develop scientists, change agents, and leaders. We also have a strong faculty expertise in palliative care, vulnerable populations, policy, healthcare economics, and legislation that shapes well-being and health. We are improving our collective understanding and investment in the domain of environment (both the natural environment and social context in general) by integrating knowledge and experiences related to these domains on the study of human well-being and planetary health.

We embrace intellectual curiosity and lean into change. We are in a mode of transformation and innovation. This means we are further refining our undergraduate and graduate nursing curriculums, which includes amplifying human caring and healing. In our post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice track, we are looking to show greater leadership in and emphasize the fields of integrative health and well-being. We are an excellent and nationally ranked college that brings together the best of science, caring, education, research, practice, and policy. But most of all it is wonderful to be educating both baccalaureate-prepared nurses, who focus on the health of those we serve, and nurse practitioners and Doctors of Nursing Practice, who provide advanced practice in our profession and are prepared to lead organizational change processes.

Q: You’re known to make a point of involving students in your work. What do you think students—undergraduate or graduate—uniquely bring to nursing research?

A: I have always enjoyed working with both undergraduate and graduate students on research and publications. This gives me an opportunity to mentor them while also having the opportunity to learn from them. I see them bring openness, curiosity, and the drive to know and make a difference! That is so rewarding. Engaging with students as they have questions and grapple with understanding data, to me, is awe-inspiring. Even more so, I appreciate the rich discussions I can have with them: discussions that go beyond just understanding the data and findings to deeper meaningful reflections on what the findings might actually mean for nursing care, human health, environmental betterment, health, and well-being. Students who have worked with me have been active participants in the development of their own scientific minds as they embrace questions, design, analysis, writing, and presentation of findings. I have seen many of these students go on to pursue higher education and advanced scientific or practice education.

Q: For this position, you’ve returned to New England after having previously lived and worked in the Boston metro area for over a decade. What do you like most about being back?

A: I enjoy the vitality and energy of being back on the East Coast! I love being in Rhode Island. The ocean, of course, is all around and it soothes my soul! I find that people are very kind here and focused on making the world a better place.

Q: What are your key funding priorities for the College of Nursing following the end of the campaign?

A: My key funding priorities are centered on supporting excellent nursing education of students, and faculty development. This includes support for education, research—discovery and inquiry—and experiential learning opportunities.

Q: If you could recommend one book to readers of this newsletter, what would it be and why?

A: I really enjoyed reading, and re-reading, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr. It puts into perspective the psychology, creativity, and spirituality of our humanity and frames what it can mean to be an emerging, growing human being within the context of complexity and change.