August 1, 2007

Easom returns to GSW as RCI Eminent Scholar, associate professor  

AMERICUS—Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving recently announced that Leisa R. Easom, R.N., Ph.D., former interim assistant dean and associate professor, has returned to Georgia Southwestern. She has been appointed to fill the Charles L. Mix Eminent Scholar position which is funded by resources from the Charles L. Mix Memorial fund.

As the Eminent Scholar, Easom will serve as an associate professor in the GSW School of Nursing and be responsible for incorporating caregiving initiatives ongoing at the RCI into the caregiving curriculum and the Pope Fellowship Program at GSW.

Joining the GSW faculty in 1988 as an assistant professor of nursing, Easom has been a nursing instructor for 19 years, 17 of which at Georgia Southwestern. She played an integral role in the development of the GSW Honors Program, serving as its assistant director from 2000-2001 and director in 2002.  

From 2005-2007, Easom was as an associate professor at Macon State College in the Division of Nursing and Health Sciences and as the program coordinator of the RN-BSN Completion Program.

Easom earned a certificate in gerontology, and focuses her program of research on Caregivers, Health Promotion, and End-of-Life issues in rural areas. She has been the recipient of many awards including Cambridge Who’s Who Among Executive and Professional Women in Nursing and Healthcare, Honor’s Edition, 2007-2008 edition and has received funding for several of her research studies. 

She serves on the editorial boards and reviews manuscripts for many journals including the Journal of Gerontological Nursing, and she is a member of the Gerontological Society of America, Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society and the National League for Nursing. In addition, she serves on the Medical Assisting Board for South Georgia Technical College and as a research council member at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. 

Easom earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing and a Master of Science in nursing with a focus on adult health and teaching, both from Valdosta State University. She obtained her doctorate in Nursing with a focus on health care across the lifespan from the Medical College of Georgia.

PHOTO AVAILABLE

                                                                                            - GSW -