Dr. Susan Kilroy Named Inaugural Kreider Endowed Professor in Health Care Simulation and Innovation

Simulation-based education expert Susan Kilroy, PhD, RN, CHSE, joined the faculty of the Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing (FCN) in January as the inaugural holder of the Kreider Endowed Professorship in Health Care Simulation and Innovation. In this role, she focuses on enriching simulation-based education and scholarship, deepening FCN’s partnerships and the College’s national and international presence in the field of simulation.

“With her demonstrated passion to advance the science of simulation and technology in education, Dr. Kilroy perfectly fits the vision we share with Richard and Marianne Kreider for this new Endowed Professorship in Health Care Simulation and Innovation,” said Dean Donna S. Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of the Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. “We look forward to advancing the potential that simulation brings to our nursing students and their ability to master new technologies and clinical skills in the safe environment of our Simulation and Learning Resource Center.”

Leadership, scholarship and innovation in simulation are hallmarks of Dr. Kilroy’s career in nursing education.

Most recently with the Temple University School of Public Health as an Associate Professor and Director of the Paley Interprofessional Simulation Lab, Dr. Kilroy previously oversaw the opening of the M. Christine Schwartz Experiential Learning and Simulation Laboratory at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing. As Director of the Laboratory and UIC’s Clinical Learning Resource Center, she was recognized for her exceptional contributions with the Dean’s Faculty Catalyst Award (2021) and Pinnacle Nurse Leader (2020).

“Villanova is a leader among nursing schools in recognizing the value of simulation and collaborative practice with this position,” she said, noting that while many medical schools have endowed positions in simulation, few nursing schools do. “Simulation can impact so many avenues of nursing and interprofessional education, and this commitment speaks volumes about Villanova Nursing.”

In her funded research, Dr. Kilroy has used simulation-based education to evaluate interprofessional collaborative practice behaviors, nursing clinical skills and community indicators such as bias, racism and social determinants of health when caring for underserved populations. She has often published in scholarly journals and been invited to present on topics in nursing education.

Dr. Kilroy’s connection to Villanova goes back to earning her Second Degree Accelerated BSN, urged on by her mother Georgiana Kilroy, a longtime University employee (1993-2012). In addition to her BSN, Dr. Kilroy earned her PhD in Nursing Science at the University of Illinois Chicago, MSN at Gonzaga University and BS in Business at Mount Saint Mary’s College.