School of Nursing Dean Nena Peragallo Montano retiring
Her leadership has made the school one of the best nursing programs in the nation and it has exceeded its fundraising goal as part of the Campaign for Carolina.
Dear Carolina Community,
We are writing to share that Nena Peragallo Montano, dean of the School of Nursing, will retire next year. We are extremely proud of and grateful for her leadership in making the school one of the best nursing programs in the nation.
Nena joined Carolina as dean in January 2017. Since then, she has been a critical part of the growth and success of the school, leading the first curriculum redesign in 20 years, planning the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategic plan and launching an adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner certificate program. U.S. News and World Report has ranked the school as the top public nursing program in the nation for the past three years.
With more than a year left in the Campaign for Carolina, the School of Nursing has exceeded its fundraising goal by over 23% and continues to actively fundraise. Nena was instrumental in securing the largest private gift in the school’s history: a $6.8 million gift from the Helene Fuld Health Trust to support the renewal of Carrington Hall and student financial aid.
School of Nursing students and faculty continue to play an integral role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in our community. More than 300 nursing students were trained to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at the Friday Center vaccination site as part of their undergraduate clinical experience, others performed COVID-19 tests at Carolina Together Testing Centers and over 70 have filled in at hospitals and clinics around the state that are short-staffed.
Under Nena’s leadership, the school has bolstered undergraduate enrollment and increased diversity among its faculty and staff. Research funding is up, and the school ranks eighth in NIH funding among nursing schools. Prior to Carolina, Nena was at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies where she served as dean and professor. She was also a professor on the graduate faculty at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile School of Nursing and an adjunct professor at Australian Catholic University.
We have appointed a committee to oversee a national search for the School of Nursing dean, which was launched in July. The search committee is chaired by Eshelman School of Pharmacy Dean Angela Kashuba. We are confident that this search committee, under Angela’s leadership, will help identify an outstanding dean to continue the great progress the School of Nursing has made in recent years.
Nena has agreed to stay on as dean until her successor is named. Upon her retirement, she will assume the title dean emerita. In the meantime, please join us in thanking Nena for her continued contributions to Carolina, and to Angela for her leadership in helping us identify a new dean.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Chancellor
Robert A. Blouin
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
