Debra Barksdale

profile

Dr. Debra J. Barksdale is the Dean at the UNC Greensboro School of Nursing. Dr. Barksdale joined UNCG in 2021. Previously, Barksdale was Professor and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She spent 13 years at UNC Chapel Hill leading both the Family Nurse Practitioner Program and the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program (as its inaugural director). She was the first Black faculty member to achieve the rank of Full Professor in Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing.

Barksdale is a nationally recognized scholar, teacher, and practitioner. She is a fellow of the prestigious American Academy of Nursing and serves as its President for the 2025-2027 term. Additionally, her extensive credentials and honors include selection as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the National League for Nursing Academy of Nursing Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Primary Health Care Policy Leadership Program, the Wharton AACN Executive Leadership Program and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow.

In 2010, Barksdale was appointed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office under the Obama Administration to the Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Education

Barksdale has a PhD from the University of Michigan, an MSN from Howard University, and a BSN from the University of Virginia. In addition, she obtained a Post-Masters Certificate in teaching from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Barksdale is a certified family nurse practitioner (NP) and a certified nurse educator.

PhD – University of Michigan, 2002
Post-Master’s Certificate in Teaching – University of Pennsylvania, 1995
MSN – Howard University, 1988
BSN – University of Virginia, 1983