Rate My Professor Lorna Butler

Dr. Lorna Butler is a full professor and dean in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick, with responsibilities for the Fredericton campus and Moncton site. She received her PhD in 1995 from the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. Her earlier degrees include a Master of Nursing from Dalhousie University in 1987 and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1978. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Butler practiced nursing in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, with clinical specialization in oncology and hematology. She held roles including head nurse, clinical nurse specialist in hematology, and coordinator for radiation oncology, and served as the first registered nurse clinician scientist in cancer research at the Victoria General Hospital.

Dr. Butler joined the faculty at Dalhousie University School of Nursing in 1999 as an associate professor with a cross appointment to the Division of Urology in the Faculty of Medicine, where she conducted research in cancer care as co-principal investigator for Cancer Research and Education in Nova Scotia. In 2007, she became dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan, a position she held until joining UNB in 2018. Her research interests focus on the pedagogy of distributive learning methodologies, policy development for advanced technologies in nursing education, and the use of robotics to address determinants of health in Indigenous communities in rural, remote, and northern circumpolar regions. She has led initiatives including a Canadian Northern Nursing Network that expanded internationally and programs using remote presence technology for nursing education. Dr. Butler has received the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing 2021 Academic Excellence Award and was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Nursing. She was also awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal.