Julie Zerwic, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN became the University of Iowa College of Nursing Kelting Dean in fall 2017, after 24 years as an educator, administrator, and researcher at the University of Illinois – Chicago. 

Highly regarded in the field of nursing, Dean Zerwic is recognized as a national leader on issues of diversity and equity in health care. She currently serves as co-chair on the American Association Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials Implementation committee and is a stakeholder mentor for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

As Kelting Dean, Zerwic has led creation of a strategic plan and reorganization of the college, doubled enrollment of under-represented minority students, successfully recruited faculty, increased alumni engagement, and launched an ambitious capital campaign. Her time has also seen the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program ranked in the top ten in the country by US News and World Report for three consecutive years, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Dean Zerwic’s research has focused on individual’s recognition of cardiovascular risk factors and symptoms and patients delay in seeking treatment during heart attack and stroke. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Nursing.