Sharon Wilkerson, Ph.D., R.N.
Dean, College of Nursing
Sharon Wilkerson, Ph.D., R.N., is dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Nursing, effective July 20, 2009.
Dr. Wilkerson previously was an associate professor at the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi College of Nursing and Health Sciences, which has collaborated with the HSC in providing an "accelerated" nursing program for students in the Bryan-College Station area.
Prior to arriving at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Dr. Wilkerson was director of doctoral program development and associate professor at the Purdue University School of Nursing. She also has been with Indiana University and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Mich.
A staff nurse for a variety of patients, Dr. Wilkerson's specialty is pediatrics. She was a clinical nurse specialist for children with respiratory problems and nurse researcher for several years, conducting evidence-based research on nursing care. She has worked in undergraduate and graduate nursing education for more than 30 years.
Current research efforts for Dr. Wilkerson involve premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Studies include implementation of kangaroo care with premature infants, development care in the NICU, parenting skills with premature infants and, most recently, hearing development in the premature infant.
Dr. Wilkerson became involved in nursing as a three-year diploma graduate from Hermann Hospital School of Nursing in Houston before obtaining a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Houston and a B.S.N. from the University of Hawaii. She has an M.S. in nursing specializing in pediatrics and nursing education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in nursing of families from Wayne State University in Detroit. She completed a post-doctoral clinical nurse scholar fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the University of Rochester.
