Leigh Small

Dr. Small earned her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degree from a small college, Keuka College, in upstate New York (1981) and her Master’s of Science in Nursing (1993) and PhD (2003) degrees from University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. With each successive academic position advancement, her passions for high quality healthcare, evidence-based practice and implementation of thought-provoking educational strategies has grown. For over two decades she has integrated and applied these passions with the goals of impacting healthcare practices (evidence-based ‘best practices’) and stimulating the intellectual curiosity of nurses, students, faculty and staff. She has held various successively complex and comprehensive administrative roles in nursing academia since 2004. 

Embracing the academic tripartite mission of education, research and service; Dr. Small has served as a nursing educator for greater than 25 years, held multiple leadership roles in several professional nursing organizations as well as serving colleges and universities, and she has continuously engaged in scholarship. With almost 35 years as a Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, her research portfolio is based on positive approaches to parenting, child development, motivational interviewing and the synchrony of interactions between parents and young children. Given that foundation, she has studied child maladaptive responses to hospitalization and obesity interventions with young children and their parents. Her dedication to the healthcare of children and families has been recognized by Fellowship in the National Academies of Practice, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing.