Sarah Shannon, dean of nursing college at Montana State, to retire at end of academic year

BOZEMAN - Montana State University announced that Sarah Shannon will retire from her role as dean of the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing in July 2027. Her colleagues say she leaves behind a legacy of genuine understanding and service to the needs of Montana healthcare.

Shannon joined MSU as dean in 2017 after a national search. It's a continuation of a familial role: her aunt, Anna M. Shannon, was the College of Nursing dean at MSU from 1975 to 1990.

Shannon dramatically expanded the nursing college's enrollment and opportunities for students, especially those with historically less access to education and resources. She guided the college - one of the largest nursing programs in the Rocky Mountain West - fully into the modern era, weathering challenges such the COVID-19 pandemic with a clear-eyed focus on meeting the needs of Montanans, regardless of circumstance.

"Sarah Shannon's impact on Montana State University cannot be overstated, and her relentless drive to improve the nursing college will benefit students and all Montanans for generations to come," said MSU Interim Provost Elizabeth Burroughs. "We are all fortunate to have benefited from her focused, thoughtful leadership for the past 10 years."

Shannon played a pivotal role in securing a transformative $101 million gift from philanthropists Mark and Robyn Jones in 2021 - the largest-ever private donation to a U.S. nursing college at the time. The gift enabled the college to grow its enrollment and to create Montana's only nurse-midwifery program as a new option within the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.

The Jones' gift left a physical mark on MSU, too: funding the construction of five new, state-of-the-art nursing education buildings at MSU College of Nursing locations in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula. Additional philanthropic support equipped the buildings with modern teaching facilities, including skills labs and simulation centers with life-size, high-fidelity manikins that support the learning of nursing students.

Construction on the buildings started in 2023 and finished this year, ready in time for students to begin classes this fall. Shannon said she delayed her retirement plans to ensure successful completion of the five buildings.

"This has been the best job I've ever had and in the last best place, Montana," Shannon said. "While it is hard to retire, I'm hopeful that with these new buildings and several new programs, it starts a new chapter of growth, excellence and opportunity for the college. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served MSU, our students, our communities and the people of Montana. I grew up in Montana and it has been a privilege to return home for this work."

Shannon's career reflects consistent responsiveness to the healthcare industry's changing needs. At MSU, she has championed the college's Caring for Our Own Program, which supports Native American and Alaska Native nursing students who seek to return to their home communities to provide care.

Other accomplishments under Shannon's tenure include:

• The college's overall enrollment and number of graduates have increased because of investments in faculty, clinical partners and simulation labs. Degrees awarded have expanded since 2017 from 216 to 270 bachelor's degrees and 20 to 40 doctoral degrees awarded annually.

• Students are receiving more scholarships, with the total amount awarded to nursing students increasing from $331,000 in 2020 to $782,500 in 2026.

• Implemented the college's new motto: "Five campuses, one college, serving Montana," to highlight the distributed campus model needed to serve a large state like Montana.

• Led the charge to revise the bachelor's nursing curriculum to make it more accessible for students, shortening the bachelor's nursing coursework from five to four semesters and the accelerated bachelor's from four to three semesters. Investing in simulation labs to supplement clinical experience made it possible to condense the curriculum without compromising learning. Students are required to complete 120 hours of clinical simulation experience, the most of any nursing program in the state.

• Successfully weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, even increasing enrollment to meet the growing need for nurses. Nursing students retained their clinical experiences and also played a key role in public health to combat the pandemic: In winter 2021, MSU students vaccinated more than 600 vulnerable individuals in a single day.

• The college created a Direct Entry to Nursing Program in 2023, which guarantees admission to the nursing major for Montana high school graduates who attend MSU and maintain a 3.0 GPA. The program has grown from 99 to 139 current participants.

• Increased endowed professorships within the college from zero to six through the Kathleen Chafey Endowed Nursing Professorship and five additional professorships established through the Jones' gift.

Shannon has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in nursing and a doctorate in nursing science.

Before coming to MSU, she spent several years working in Juneau, Alaska, as a medical surgical nurse, and then in Seattle as an intensive care unit nurse. After completing graduate school in Seattle, she taught and researched healthcare ethics, and served as an ethics consultant at local hospitals for over 20 years. Later, at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, she was senior associate dean for academic affairs in its nursing school.

In 2025, she was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of her nationally significant contributions to nursing education, healthcare policy and research. The accolade is one of the nursing profession's highest honors, with fewer than 4,000 nurses worldwide holding the distinction.

"You feel like what you're doing matters," Shannon said of her nursing career. "I was not motivated to just make money in my work. Being a nurse, nurse educator, nurse scientist and nurse leader has been immensely gratifying. The joy about being in education for the past 30 years has been the privilege of getting to be around young people. They're funny, they're fun, they're enthusiastic. I've loved everything about my time in academia and feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to finish my career here at MSU."

MSU plans to conduct a national search for the next dean of the nursing college. More details will be shared this fall.