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About Oxley

The mission of the Oxley College of Health and Natural Sciences is to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and promote human health and welfare through excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. We prepare our graduates to be leaders and innovators in their respective fields by providing a robust interdisciplinary education that integrates theoretical and applied learning, and emphasizes the importance of collaboration, diversity, and social responsibility.

Photograph of Susan Pepin

Dr. Susan Pepin

Dean, Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences

Following an international search, The University of Tulsa announced the selection of Dr. Susan Pepin as the inaugural dean of Oxley College of Health and Natural Sciences. Pepin brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, having served as managing director of health and clinical partnerships, senior adviser to the executive vice president, and clinical professor in the College of Health Solutions and Edson College of Nursing & Health Innovation at Arizona State University.

Pepin is a highly accomplished scholar, educator, surgeon, and clinician. She holds an M.D. degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and a master of public health from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. Pepin studied psychology, philosophy, and physiology as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford after completing her bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University in 1987.

“I am honored and excited to join The University of Tulsa as dean of Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences and look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and greater Tulsa community,” said Pepin. “Together, we will build on UTulsa’s extraordinary history and establish a transformative college for science education, scholarship, and public impact for the 21st century. I plan to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, robust engagement in meaningful research, and a student and faculty experience that is distinctive to UTulsa and its impact on our communities.”

A tireless advocate for health equity and student success, Pepin served four years as president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust where she managed a $550 million endowment and oversaw grants in health, arts and culture, and educational programs. She also is chief medical officer for Paxauris, a startup in hearing protection and wearable technology.

In November 2022, The University of Tulsa announced the formation of the Oxley College of Health and Natural Sciences. A structural change through which the biology, chemistry, geosciences, and physics departments joined nursing, kinesiology and rehabilitative sciences, and communication sciences and disorders to create fertile ground for UTulsa’s growth in the human health sciences. At The University of Tulsa, the percentage of successful applicants to allopathic programs from 2014 to 2022 far exceeded the national average.

Dean's Executive Staff

Samantha Beams headshot

Samantha Beams

Associate Dean of Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences

Cassy Abbott Eng

Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs

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Veronica Goss

Administrative Associate, Dean’s Office

Samantha Beams

Associate Dean of Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences

Cassy Abbott Eng

Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs

918-631-2831
cre2714@utulsa.edu

Veronica Goss

Administrative Associate, Dean’s Office

Points of Pride

  • Advanced partnership with Laureate Institute for Brain Research; projects include Alzheimer’s disease and anxiety
  • Only Nurse Anesthesia doctor of nursing practice program in Oklahoma (began August 2020)
  • Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) doctor of nursing practice programs accredited by ACEN
  • 100% placement rate in jobs or graduate school
  • 100% first-time pass rate for all graduate students — athletic training, speech-language pathology, FNP and AG-ACNP — who took their respective certification/licensure exam in the spring/summer 2020 (this includes students who graduated in the spring and summer 2020)
  • Entire first two cohorts of FNP and AG-ACNP graduates (2019 and 2020) passed certification exams
  • State-of-the-art Lawson Clinical Simulation Center
  • Home to the Tulsa chapter of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
  • Annual Route 66 Conference on Communication Disorders
  • Extensive clinical experiences:
    • Students involved: 205
    • Clinical hours: 44,929
    • Patients/clients seen: 13,793
    • Sites: 122