Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Dr. Sandra Davidson
Dr. Davidson was appointed Provost and Vice-President (Academic) effective July 1, 2024. She has previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Nursing (2018-2023) and Deputy Provost (2021-2023) at the University of Calgary. Over her 30-year career she has served in a wide range of academic and healthcare environments that span private, for-profit; public, not-for profit; and both large and small public universities. She is well known in each position for her entrepreneurial thought and creative innovation.
With her leadership, the Faculty of Nursing has more than doubled its graduate enrolment over the past 6 years. This has included the development and launch of eight graduate certificates and a certificate pathway leading to a master’s degree in nursing. In 2023, the Faculty launched a Doctor of Nursing (DN) program with a focus on health systems transformation. This is only the second DN program in Canada. Dr. Davidson championed the development of the rural/remote community and Indigenous community pathways of the undergraduate nursing program. Through these “learn where you live” pathways, nursing students can remain in their home communities while they study as UCalgary nursing students.
Her research and scholarship focuses on leadership and complex systems, living well with chronic disease and aging. As an innovative educator, she has been recognized nationally and internationally for her student-centered, relational practices and use of strategies such as game-based learning and simulation. She is a Fellow in both the Canadian and American Academies of Nursing.
Davidson obtained her PhD in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University in 2011. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing at the same institution in 2001 and received her Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Lethbridge in 1996 and Diploma of Nursing from Lethbridge College in 1994.
