Karen L. Miller, PhD, Dean

Karen L. Miller, PhD, was appointed Dean of the KU School of Health Professions in 1998. She has also served as Dean of the KU School of Nursing since 1996, providing for a unique dual leadership role which continues a decade later. Most recently, she assumed the additional role of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Prior to her arrival at KU, Dr. Miller was Vice President of Nursing and Clinical Services at The Children's Hospital, Denver, and Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Miller has over thirty years experience in health care education and administration.

Dr. Miller completed her baccalaureate degree in nursing at Case Western Reserve University and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado. Her research has been in the areas of health systems, finance and patient care outcomes. She has published on the organizational context of patient care, financial management of clinical services and healthcare workforce issues. She is President of KU HealthPartners, Inc., a direct clinical services corporation for allied health and nursing professionals.

Among past national committee appointments, Dr. Miller has been a member of the Commission on Workforce for Hospitals & Health Systems of the American Hospital Association. She is active in the National Association of Schools of Allied Health and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Dr. Miller recently completed a four-year term on the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and she has served on the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Miller was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1995 and serves on several editorial boards and corporate Boards of Directors, including The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.