An interim dean will take the helm of the School of Nursing next month, Provost Steven Lerman announced in an email to the school Monday.

Mary Jean Schumann, the school’s interim senior associate dean for academic affairs, will lead GW’s newest school starting Jan. 1 until the University picks its next leader. Dean Jean Johnson will step down at the end of this month, about a year and a half after she announced plans to take a sabbatical and fall back into a teaching and research role.

Schumann led the creation of a new nursing program for veterans and was the executive director of the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care from 2011 to 2013.

Lerman said in an interview Monday that the dean search was nearing completion, and that the school’s search committee would report to him and University President Steven Knapp soon. The committee has kept details about the search’s timeline under wraps since it formed last year.

Johnson announced she would step down at the end of the last academic year, but agreed to remain in her role until a replacement was found. Knapp announced in October that this semester would be her last as dean.

She plans to travel to South Africa, where she will look to improve working conditions for nurses.