Former College of Nursing dean honoured for public administration

Dr. Netha Dyck is the 2026 recipient of the Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, Canada's highest honour for public service. Dyck is the former dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences' College of Nursing at UM, concluded her highly impactful tenure in 2025. 

Over her 51-year career as a public administrator, Dyck has led major transformations in health care and nursing education. Most notably, she rapidly expanded the UM Bachelor of Nursing program by 50 per cent in just nine months to help address Manitoba's nursing shortage during post-pandemic recovery. 

“I am deeply honoured to receive the Vanier Medal,” said Dyck. “This recognition reflects the extraordinary work of leaders, faculty, staff, students and health-system partners who worked together to expand and strengthen nursing, nurse practitioner and midwifery education, improving health care for Manitobans for years to come.”
 

Recognition of public impact

The Vanier Medal is Canada’s most prestigious award for public administrators, recognizing one person annually whose work has had a lasting impact on public policy and the lives of Canadians. Dyck joins an esteemed group of past recipients, including Dr. Catherine Cook, UM’s inaugural vice-president (Indigenous), who received the medal in 2023.

"Dr. Dyck's leadership is distinguished by her ability to design and implement innovative organizational models that bring together faculty, staff, students, Indigenous scholars and health system partners in service of the public good," said Dr. Mario Pinto, vice-president (research and international). "Few public sector leaders have made such sustained impact across academic, provincial and national governance."

Beyond UM, Dyck has provided national leadership through the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Nurses Protective Society and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing. She has also been recognized as an Inaugural Fellow of both the Canadian Nurse Educator Institute and the Canadian Academy of Nursing for her outstanding contributions to nursing leadership and education.
 

A career of high-quality care

Raised in Winkler, Manitoba, Dyck began her nursing career in Winkler in 1974. She earned her Bachelor of Nursing degree from UM in 1988, followed by a master's at Central Michigan University and doctorate from the University of Calgary.

After assuming her first administrative role just six months into her nursing career, Dyck continued to take on progressively senior roles within acute and long-term care, including[ND1.1] providing leadership as president of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses. In 1998, she became director of the Personal Care Home Program with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, overseeing quality improvement and innovation across 39 personal care homes in Winnipeg.

Dyck later expanded to academia, serving as dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Saskatchewan Polytechnic before returning to UM as dean of the School of Nursing in 2018. Under her leadership, the College became a national leader in the integration of simulation and virtual reality in nursing education and increased access to education through online learning. 

During her tenure, the College achieved historic growth in research funding, conducting research that informed health policy and health-system innovation for all Canadians.

“Few public sector leaders have made such sustained impact across academic, provincial and national governance,” says Pinto. “Her work has strengthened regional partnerships to create lasting improvements to nursing education, particularly, in The Pas and Thompson.”

Today, Dyck continues her commitment to public service through her role as a member of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Board, contributing to policy development and improved access to health care for Manitobans.