Dr. Anderson is a nurse and higher education executive with over thirty years of experience in roles ranging from staff to administration and academia. She served as the associate dean for academic affairs and was an integral member of the College of Nursing and the Graduate School leadership teams during the merger of Georgia Health Sciences University and Augusta State University, which resulted in the consolidated university now known as Augusta University. She co-authored a manuscript on the use of change theory facilitating the consolidation of two diverse pre-licensure nursing programs.

Dr. Anderson has broad experience in healthcare and in academia. She currently serves as the Dean and Professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Western Carolina University in North Carolina. She serves as a simulation consultant and is an associate editor and member of the editorial board for the multidisciplinary journal Simulation in Healthcare. She has been a member of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study section for Healthcare Safety and Quality Improvement Research and a current grant reviewer for the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. In addition, she serves as an evaluator and committee chair for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Dr. Anderson received a Doctorate of Philosophy from Duquesne University in 2004, a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota in 1996, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Creighton University in 1988.