Dr. David Reyes Appointed Dean, School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership

Dr. David Reyes will serve as dean of the UW Tacoma School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership. The appointment was announced on March 27 by Dr. Andrew Harris, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Dr. Reyes served as interim dean since Dr. Sharon Fought, founding dean of the school, stepped down in 2022, and his appointment is the culmination of a national search. He also holds a faculty appointment as an associate professor in the school, and an adjunct appointment in both the Schools of Nursing and Public Health at UW in Seattle.

Dr. Reyes has nearly 40 years of professional nursing and leadership experience. He received his Doctor of Nursing Practice, ’13, and Master of Nursing, ’02, and Master of Public Health, ’02, degrees from UW in Seattle, and his B.S. Nursing, ’83, from Seattle University.

Prior to joining UW Tacoma in 2014, Dr. Reyes was a health services administrator with Public Health -Seattle & King County, where he managed health services delivery in a number of public health centers, and was active in agency work addressing institutional racism and social justice.

His primary scholarship interests are in addressing the root causes of health inequity and disparities, building community leadership capacity, and using community-based participatory approaches that focus on equitable partnerships between communities and health systems. He is currently partnering with Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to explore barriers to, and facilitators of, vaccine acceptance among Asian American Pacific Islander and transgender communities.

He is a member of the executive board of the American Public Health Association, a past-president of the Washington State Public Health Association, and has held state and national leadership roles with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Institute of Medicine’s Standing Committee on Family Planning.

“Dr. Reyes brings with him a sensibility of empathy, perception and creativity in problem-solving that will serve all members of our community with the highest levels of integrity and commitment,” said Dr. Harris.

“This is an exciting time for our school,” said Dr. Reyes, “and I look forward to continued partnership with faculty, staff and the campus community as we envision our school’s future that advances equitable health and well-being for all communities.”