Dawn Garrett-Wright is a Professor in the School of Nursing at WKU and coordinator for the BSN program. She received a BSN (1998) and MSN with an emphasis in Nursing Education (2004) from WKU. Dr. Garrett-Wright received her Ph.D. in Nursing Science from Vanderbilt University (2008).  She completed coursework for certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at the University of Louisville and is Board-Certified by ANCC. Dr. Garrett-Wright has taught at WKU in the ASN, BSN, and Graduate Programs since 2002, and she is recognized by the National League for Nursing as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE). Prior to beginning teaching, Dr. Wright worked in Public Health Nursing, Pediatrics, and Mental Health Nursing. Dr. Wright teaches in both the Prelicensure and Graduate programs. She currently teaches Mental Health Nursing, and a variety of graduate courses in the PMHNP program. 

She is an active member of the American Nurses Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, National League for Nursing, Kentucky League for Nursing, American Psychiatric Nurses Association and Sigma Theta Tau International. Her research interests include pediatric obesity, physical and mental health promotion and health literacy across the lifespan, and issues related to nursing education.