Dr. Mary Jane (Shirar) Hanson

Dr. Mary Jane Shirar Hanson, class of 1971, received her B.S.N. from Cedar Crest College in 1982 and attended the University of PA where she obtained her M.S.N. and her Ph.D.

She has been a professor and program director for the University of Scranton since 1996. She has over 25 years of experience as a nurse practitioner and maintains a current family nurse practitioner practice. Dr. Hanson is a nationally recognized behavioral researcher regarding cigarette smoking and has received grant funding for her research from the National Cancer Institute of Health. Dr. Hanson has published more than 30 papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals. She is currently serving as chair of the Commission on the Collegiate Nursing Education Board.

Dr. Hanson developed “the Fishbein-Aizen Hanson Questionnaire” used by researchers, clinicians and doctoral students in Nursing, Sociology, Psychology and Medicine in the United States, Canada, and England. In 2018, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.