Marty Witrak, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and Dean at the School of Nursing at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. Her specialties include nursing’s role in rural health care, health information technology, health policy, and nursing education. She is a member of the National Rural Health Association, a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Government Affairs Committee, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.
Dr. Witrak leads Office of Health Information Technology-sponsored demonstration projects on the implementation and meaningful use of health information technologies in rural clinical facilities. She cites health information technology’s critical role in achieving significant goals of health reform and adoption of new ways of defining nursing work, roles, and functions. Witrak co-chairs the Minnesota e-Health Advisory Committee and is also an active policy spokesperson to national and state legislators. Her national leadership in health information technology has led to appointments as Co-Chair of the Workforce and Education Committee of the Rural HIT Coalition, Co-Chair of a national workforce summit, and an active presenter.
Witrak earned a PhD from Syracuse University, an MS from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, and a BS from St. Olaf College. She has led nursing at The College of St. Scholastica since 1999, first as Chair and later as Dean. She also served from 2005–2008 as Executive Director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation at St. Scholastica.