Sharon Brownie

Reporting to t​he Provost, the Dean, Nursing and Midwifery will define nursing educational needs in East ​Africa an​d develop programmes that meet those needs. The Dean​​​ will also serve as a member of the senior management team of the University in the region and liaise with G​overnments, donor agencies and AKDN partners on behalf of the University. The Dean will also provide academic and administrative leadership in the management of all the operations of the nursing programme and take the lead in fostering faculty development and ensuring a research culture that responds to the needs of the environment.

Professor Sharon Brownie began her career as a registered nurse and midwife and over the past thirty years has continued to be active in professional practice, which is the foundation of her roles as clinician, educator, researcher and policy advisor. She has over 25 years of executive experience in health and education including New Zealand-based roles such as Associate Head of Nursing and Health Studies at Manawatu Polytechnic, General Manager of Templeton Hospital, Nursing and Professional Services Advisor for Health Link South followed by roles in Australia including Deputy CEO of the Australian Health Workforce Institute, Executive Director of Clinical Education and Training for Queensland Health, and Professor Health Workforce Development at Griffith University. Her executive capacity is strengthened by additional experience in social welfare and economic development sectors in which she served for three years as the Regional Commissioner of Employment for North New Zealand followed by a two year national posting as General Manager of Regional Coordination and Development for New Zealand. These experiences form the basis of her special interest in local and regional capacity building roles and in health workforce development initiatives such as establishing and enhancing nursing education programmes and scopes of practice.

In June 2003, Professor Brownie was appointed as CEO of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, a role which she fulfilled for seven years. During this period, she completed a doctorate, conducting research into the New Zealand experience, implementing partnership-based local development and capacity building initiatives.

Professor Brownie holds a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Educational Administration, a Master of Health Services Management, a Master of Applied Management (Nursing) and in 2000 was awarded a Management Development Centre Fellowship for Excellence in the New Zealand Public Service. In her most recent post she ​served as Griffith University representative and Head of Nursing at Fatima College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi (UAE) where she received a Griffith University Award of Excellence for her role in implementing the BScN programme and developing a comprehensive review programme to support nursing graduates to prepare for the national nurse licensure exam.

Professor Brownie​ is a member of the PRAXIS Forum and is a Research Associate of Green Templeton College at Oxford University. Her research interests and publications focus on nursing and health workforce capacity building, including the expansion of nursing roles and scope of practice for the prevention and management of chronic disease.​