Dr. Audria Denker joined Galen College of Nursing in 2005, and she currently serves as Executive Vice President of Nursing (EVP). Prior to being named EVP, Dr. Denker served as VP of Human Resources and Chief People Officer. Dr. Denker also served Vice President of Student Affairs and Human Resources as for two years and as Vice President of Academic Operations for two years. Dr. Denker also held the position of Vice President of Development, in which she was responsible for special projects related to growing new programs and building relationships between Galen and the healthcare community. In her current position, she is responsible for day-to-day program operations, staffing and workload, clinical operations, simulation, and student support. During her tenure as EVP, all prelicensure ADN programs obtained ACEN accreditation and all program pass rates exceed state and national averages.

Dr. Denker gained extensive clinical-practice knowledge and healthcare-management experience during 14 years as a pediatric-oncology nurse manager at Norton Children’s Hospital, a part of Norton Healthcare, in Louisville, Kentucky, and an additional two years’ human resources experience as Nurse retention manager for the Norton system. In her role as Nurse retention manager, Dr. Denker was responsible for reduction in new graduate nurse turnover from 32% to 8% over 2 years which saved the organization approximately $4 million over the same time period.

Dr. Denker is an active leader in numerous civic and charitable organizations. In 2000, she was appointed by Governor Paul Patton to the Hemophilia Advisory Committee for Kentucky’s Commission for Children with Special Healthcare Needs. In 2009, she was named chair of the committee, a position she still holds. She was appointed to the Kentucky Board of Nursing in 2018 for a four-year term and serves as the financial officer. Dr. Denker received the Associate of Science Degree in Nursing from Pikeville (Kentucky) College (now University of Pikeville), and the Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Bellarmine University in Louisville.