Skip to main content

Kimberly Sharp Leads Mississippi College School of Nursing


Kimberly Sharp

Kimberly Sharp brings 30 years of professional experience and innovative leadership to her new role as dean of the Mississippi College School of Nursing.

Originally from Canada, Sharp will succeed Mary Jean Padgett, who is retiring this spring after two decades as nursing dean at her alma mater in Clinton. Padgett was among the first graduates of the MC School of Nursing in 1973.

As dean at the Louisiana College School of Nursing and Allied Health, Sharp proved to be a successful administrator on the Pineville campus.

She developed and launched a BSN program that within the first three years saw nursing students achieve a 100 percent pass rate on the NCLEX exams. In addition, Dr. Sharp was a member of a $3.4 million design team for a nursing skills/lab, a 7,100-square foot facility.

Sharp mentors nursing students and worked on the integration of a mapping simulation program throughout the curriculum at Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College.

“She has been innovative wherever she’s been,” says Mississippi College Graduate School Dean Debbie Norris. “I look forward to working with her on graduate programs. I believe Dr. Sharp is a perfect fit for MC.”

The announcement of Dr. Sharp’s selection comes 24 hours before Padgett will extend her best wishes to the Class of 2015 at the MC School of Nursing commencement on Friday May 8 at Swor Auditorium.

Padgett welcomes her successor as dean at Cockroft Hall on the Clinton campus. “I believe God has provided His person to serve as the new dean of the School of Nursing.”

Dr. Sharp, she said, demonstrated “her joy, enthusiasm and caring attitude” during her recent round of campus interviews.

A former MC student, faculty member and nursing dean, Padgett has devoted 33 years to Mississippi College. During that time, she noted she made many lifelong friends at the School of Nursing and throughout the 5,000-student Christian university.

Sharp also brings plenty of teaching experience at institutions like Women’s College Hospital in Ontario, Canada, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland and Cedarville University in Ohio. She also served as program director for the master’s in nursing program at California Baptist University.

Sharp earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Cedarville University, her master’s in nursing at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and her doctorate in occupational health nursing from Robert Gordon University in Scotland. Her hobbies range from music to travel. But spending time with family remains a big priority for the new nursing dean at Mississippi College.

According to Academic Vice President Ron Howard, “Dr. Kimberly Sharp is a proven leader who possesses the many skills, the extensive training, and depth of experience to build upon and expand the superb nursing program that retiring Dean Mary Jean Padgett has so diligently nurtured over the years.”