Dean Delaney joined U of M President Kaler in Iceland to renew student exchange agreement

As the University of Minnesota marked the continuation of its 35-year partnership with the University of Iceland for another five years, the U of M School of Nursing was recognized as a founding collaborator in the academic relationship.

School of Nursing Dean Connie White Delaney’s connections to the University of Iceland began prior to her joining the University in 2005. While at the University of Iowa, she helped forge a research partnership with the University of Iceland’s nursing faculty. Since joining the University of Minnesota, she has forged a multifaceted partnership with Icelandic colleagues on development of online academic courses, student and faculty exchanges and ongoing health informatics research. 

Delaney has held academic appointments in nursing and medicine at the University of Iceland since 2001 and held the EMR professorship from 2001 to 2004. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Iceland.

The U of M’s partnership with Iceland involves student exchanges, joint academic programming and research collaboration.

The delegation visited with rector (president) of the University of Iceland, Jon Atli Benediktsson, and explored new areas for potential collaboration. The group met with deCode Genetics, a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome and attended a seminar where U of M alumni in Iceland shared their research and professional accomplishments with the delegation.

In addition to Kaler and Delaney, the delegation included Kaler’s wife Karen Kaler, Dean of International Programs Meredith McQuaid, Dean of Science and Engineering Sam Mukasa, Dean of Education and Human Development Jean Quam, Institute on the Environment Director Jessica Hellman, GPS Alliance Development Director Diane Young, and GPS Alliance Chief of Staff Molly Portz.