Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, RN

Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the Patricia M. Davidson Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor. She is a serial idea entrepreneur. She co-developed and led research and scale of the CAPABLE program for older adults and now is working to develop Neighborhood Nursing, a potentially transformative model of care.

Under Szanton’s leadership, the school is ranked No. 1 nationally by U.S. News & World Report for its master’s and Doctor of Nursing practice programs and No. 3 globally by QS World University. In 2022, Szanton launched the impactful Policy Honors Program to help students develop skills to influence policies that improve health. She also created the Institute for Policy Solutions, which is a hub for health policy leadership and research capacity development for global nurse leaders and scientists. Szanton has testified on Capitol Hill regarding the nursing workforce and faculty shortages. She is the thought leader behind a new model of universal preventive care called Neighborhood Nursing.

As an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Szanton helped shape the pioneering Pathway To PhD Nursing Scholars Program to accelerate diversity within PhD-prepared nurses, and she established the Term Professorship for Rising Faculty to fund distinguished faculty in their research and leadership.

During her first year as Dean, Szanton was named a Woman of Achievement by Business and Professional Women of Maryland and was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). She is also a Heinz Award winner for the Human Condition and a PBS Organization’s “Next Avenue Influencers in Aging.”

Prior to becoming Dean, Szanton had co-developed a program for older adults to age in community, called CAPABLE.  This program, which involves a nurse, an occupational therapist and a handyworker, started in Baltimore and has now spread to 23 States She maintains research on CAPABLE as well as on the impact of financial strain on health, and the measurement of structural racism and resilience across the life course.

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