Dr. Angela Clark Named the New Maxine Clark and Bob Fox President and professor at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College

Goldfarb School of Nursing welcomes new president

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College welcomed Angela Clark, RN, MSN, PhD, last month as the new Maxine Clark and Bob Fox President and professor. She succeeds Nancy Ridenour, RN, APRN, PhD, who retired Dec. 31 after serving as president since 2017.

Before joining Goldfarb, Clark served as interim associate dean and executive director of undergraduate and prelicensure programs at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, a position she had held since 2019.

“The Search Committee set out to ensure the next leader of our College possessed passion and a commitment to collaboration, in order to attract, prepare and inspire the next generation of nurse leaders,” said Bob Cannon, BJC group president. “We are grateful to the Search Committee for their dedication and celebrate their success in identifying a dynamic leader like Dr. Clark, who will help fulfill our mission through academic excellence, innovative research and community engagement."

In a Nurses Week message to the Goldfarb community, Clark expressed her gratitude and excitement as she began her new role. “After a quick first week on the job, I feel inspired and energized about nursing’s impact on the future of health care,” she said. “What I’ve humbly gathered in my first days serving as your president is the rich legacy, supportive culture and opportunity to innovate that’s set the foundation for our Path to Distinction.”

Clark also released a video message in which she said she was honored to be chosen as the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox President. She discussed some of her priorities, as well as her impressions of the Goldfarb community. “My conversations with students, faculty and staff have reinforced what I already suspected. There is an authentic passion about serving in our community, and we truly care about what we’re doing,” she said.

“We care about the populations that we’re serving, and we care about each other. I am so passionate about this institution, because Goldfarb School of Nursing is a place where the combination of personal attention we give our students and the access we give them to real-world experience in top hospitals is truly transformational.

“If there’s anything I can say about nursing and nursing education, it’s that the time is now,” Clark said. “This is a very exciting time for us, and the momentum we’re building right now positions Goldfarb to stand out as a regional and national academic leader in nursing.”

Clark earned her undergraduate and master’s nursing degrees from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and her PhD in nursing from the University of Cincinnati. She has previously held faculty positions at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.