Dean Patricia M. Davidson, PhD, MeD, RN, FAAN, announced this week that Christina (Chris) Atkins Godack of the Johns Hopkins School of Education will join the School of Nursing as leader of its Marketing and Communications efforts.

“I am delighted to welcome Chris to the School of Nursing and to my leadership team,” Davidson said in her announcement. “She brings vast experience, passion, and commitment to telling the story of how our students and faculty are leading nursing’s work in improving healthcare. Chris has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and communications and has a proven track record of leading results-oriented teams in the areas of higher education, healthcare, business, government, and nonprofits.”

Godack (pictured) replaces Lynn Schultz-Writsel, a fixture as director of MarCom for the past decade. Her tenure coincided with the School of Nursing’s rise to No. 1 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Schultz-Writsel is retiring to a home she is having built in Colorado and to a continuing career as a consultant.  

Godack is currently Assistant Dean of Communications and Public Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Previous positions include executive vice president of public relations at Hartt and Company; vice president of public relations at Weber Shandwick; assistant director of news and information at the Johns Hopkins University; and account executive with Ogilvy and Mather Public Relations in Washington, DC. She holds a master’s degree in social strategy from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Community Planning and a bachelor’s degree in political science and pre-law from Goucher College.  

At Education, she led all communications and branding for the launch of the new school and developed a communications strategy to strengthen branding for U.S. News & World Report rankings, helping the school move from No. 23 to No. 1.  Her marketing team received the Gold Award for Institutional Identity Programs from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). In addition, her work has been honored with top awards from the Maryland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Health Care Marketing Report Magazine.  

“I am thrilled and excited to welcome her to the school,” the Dean said of Godack, who starts in her new position on April 21.