Michael Bleich appointed director of VCU Langston Center for Innovation in Quality and Safety
VCU School of Nursing announced that Michael R. Bleich, Ph.D., RN, has been named senior professor and director of the VCU Langston Center for Innovation in Quality and Safety. A nationally recognized scholar and thought leader, Bleich most recently served as the center’s interim director after joining the school for a year as a visiting senior professor.
“We’re very excited to have a nurse leader of Michael’s caliber guide our Langston Center,” said Jean Giddens, Ph.D., RN, professor and dean of the VCU School of Nursing. “His record of innovation in health care quality will help propel the center to the forefront of influencing improvements in that arena.”
Bleich has held clinical, consultative, service, academic, and association leadership positions nationwide. Among his many contributions important to the advancement of nursing is his participation as one of five nurses on the committee that wrote the seminal report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” issued through the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Bleich has been recognized nationally for his contributions to the profession. The Luther Christman Award from the American Assembly for Men in Nursing and the Anthony J. Jannetti Award for extraordinary contributions to health care from the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses are among his various honors.
A member of numerous professional nursing organizations and champion for organizational and health care systems research, Bleich has authored more than 100 scholarly publications and has addressed audiences nationally and internationally. He currently serves on the board for Nursing Forum and the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, where he authors a column on leadership and development.
Bleich received a diploma in nursing from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing, a B.S.N. from Milton College, an M.P.H. in nursing and patient care administration from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in human resource development from the University of Nebraska. He completed nurse executive fellowships at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as completed the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow in Public Health Nursing program at the University of Minnesota. Bleich has also been inducted into the American Academy of Nursing and the National Academies of Practice.
In addition to his position at VCU, Bleich is currently president of NursDynamics LLC.
