STAFF EDITORIAL: Lang's influence to be missed

In her eight years at the helm of Penn Nursing, Lang has fleshed out a vision that integrates the teaching, research and clinical practice aspects of her school's mission. By doing so, she has raised the profile of the Nursing School's undergraduate program and built the graduate program into one of the finest in the nation. If numbers are an indication of success, then note that since 1992, the school's endowment has increased fivefold, the number of endowed chairs has increased by five and the Nursing School is the No. 1 private school nationally in federal research funding. But at least as important are the connections that Lang has forged as dean. The school now has interdisciplinary or submatriculation programs with the Engineering, Law and Wharton schools, and has entered the field of distance learning with a master's program in midwifery. Lang has also better defined the nature of her institution by better integrating research and clinical practice into the undergraduate curriculum and establishing cross-disciplinary research centers on a number of health-related issues. While she will remain on the faculty, Lang's skill as an administrator and her ability to stimulate the faculty will be missed. We hope that the University works speedily, as it so often hasn't in the past, to fill her very large shoes.