Lisa Hopp, PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. Hopp is Dean of the College of Nursing at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Prior to her role at RFUMS, she was Dean and Professor, College of Nursing at Purdue University Northwest where she was a nursing educator for 31 years. She earned her BA in French from Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa and a BSN from Rush University. She worked as a staff nurse at Rush in the Medical Intensive Care Unit before returning to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She earned her MSN and PhD in nursing at UIC. Her area of research in her early academic years related to respiratory muscle function in health people and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was funded through the National Institutes of Nursing Research in those endeavors. Subsequently, she shifted her focus to evidence synthesis and implementation as the evidence-based practice movement gained momentum. She was the founding director of the Indiana Center for Evidence Based Nursing Practice at Purdue Northwest and served in that capacity for 20 years. This center and the one at RFUMS are part of a global collaboration with other interprofessional centers focused on evidence synthesis, transfer, and implementation. These centers are self-governing but closely affiliated with the JBI, an international leader in evidence-based practice at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. This global assembly of centers routinely collaborate with the other leading international organizations (Cochrane, Campbell, and G-I-N) focused on improving global health through evidence informed care. As a center leader, she initiated programs in comprehensive systematic review training and implementation science. She is author of the text, Introduction to Evidence Based Practice, A Practical Guide for Nurses (currently in press for its 3rd edition) as well as many journal articles and book chapters.

In her role as dean, she has led the development of several nursing programs including establishing the first doctoral program at a public regional campus and robust online graduate programs in nursing. She continues to work with the RFUMS College of Nursing team to build enrollment in the newly established college and to launch new concentrations in advanced nursing practice.

Dr. Hopp’s leadership style is highly collaborative; she has led during transformative eras. These include managing educational, administrative, and organizational culture changes when two Purdue regional campuses merged; helping design the program plan with the themes of interprofessional collaboration, student-centric learning, and science on display for a new College of Nursing building; and leading during the pandemic that included the move to the new building.

Dr. Hopp has served in board roles in international and national nursing organizations and local hospitals. She arrived at RFUMS first as vice-dean in 2023 and was named dean in March of 2025.