The UNC School of Nursing Board of Visitors is an important part of the Carolina Nursing community. Members lend their expertise and leadership to advise the Dean and advocate for the School of Nursing. We are grateful for their time, insight and critical support of our mission to advance health for all.
Brandi Newman, Chair, is Vice President of Administration for Community & Social Impact at Atrium Health.
She holds a BS with Honors in nursing and a Master of Science in nursing with a focus in health care systems administration from the UNC School of Nursing. She is active as adjunct faculty at UNC and currently serves on the Board of Visitors at the School of Nursing. Brandi has received the School’s Graduate of the Last Decade Award for outstanding contributions to the nursing profession and was recognized as a Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina
She is very involved in the Charlotte community, having been appointed to the Charlotte Works Board of Directors by the Mayor of Charlotte. She is also on the Board of Advisors for the UNC Charlotte Library and the Cabarrus College School of Nursing BSN and MSN programs. She is an alumna of Leadership Charlotte® Class 40 and has authored a book chapter in a nursing leadership textbook and an article on being a new nurse manager. Brandi is board certified as an Advanced Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Brandi and her husband, Omar, have a three-year-old daughter, Kenan Caroline. In her spare time, Brandi enjoys yoga, golf, traveling, and cheering for the Tar Heels.
Deborah Mayer, Vice Chair, is past president of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), was a member of the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board (a Presidential appointment) and Board of Scientific Advisors. Dr. Mayer was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She is active in ONS and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and is a Past Chair of the ASCO Survivorship Committee. She served as the Editor for the ONS’ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON) from 2007-2015 and has published over 200 articles, book chapters, and editorials on cancer-related issues.
She was awarded the ONS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. In 2016, was appointed as the only nurse to Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel. She became the Interim Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at NCI from 2018-2020. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Ellen L. Stovall Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
Barbara Senich, Immediate Past Chair, has spent most of her career in the biopharmaceutical and managed care industries, in addition to the digital health arena—helping to communicate with providers via the Electronic Health Record (EHR) and supporting patient access and affordability of medications.
She is a Carolina Nursing alum (BSN ’79) and prior member of the SON Foundation Board where she created a research endowment focused on solutions to the obesity epidemic. Barbara earned her MBA and MPH at Columbia University and recently relocated to Chapel Hill at 27+ years in the northeast. She enjoys books and documentaries on particle physics, gravitational waves and radio astronomy.
Sue Hassmiller is a national leader in nursing, health equity and leadership development. She has devoted her career to strengthening the nursing profession, improving population health and advancing health equity. During her 25 years at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), she served as the Senior Adviser for Nursing and the Senior Scholar-In-Residence/Senior Adviser to the President at the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). She helped to lead the landmark reports at NAM on the Future of Nursing ─ the 2010 Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health and The Future of Nursing, 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. She also established and served as the director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a nationwide initiative led by AARP, the AARP Foundation, and RWJF, to transform health and health care through nursing to build a healthier America.
Sue has held leadership positions in some of the nation’s most prominent health care organizations. She served on the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, where she holds the Living Legend status. She sits on other advisory committees and boards, including the Hackensack Meridian Health System, UnitedHealth Group, Carrier Clinic, the Nurses on Boards Coalition, and the University of North Carolina School of Nursing.
She is a Hudson/ICF certified Executive/Leadership Coach and Founder and Principal of Sulu Coaching and Consulting with a practice focused on health care leaders. She lives in Cary, North Carolina, with her husband and co-founder of Sulu Coaching, and close to her extraordinary grandchildren.
Cathrine Hundley is a Post-Acute Coordinator at Novant Health and serves on the Outreach Committee at the Harrelson Center, a hub for non-profit organizations. She also spends her time volunteering at COVID-19 vaccine clinics, local hurricane shelters and community health fairs. She has been a registered nurse for 27 years, focusing on medical-surgery, primary care and value-based care.
Cathrine is a Carolina Nursing alum (’95) and lives in Wilmington with her husband and two daughters, both of whom are current UNC students. She enjoys the beach, boating, travelling and spending time outdoors.
Carolyn London is an active and long-serving supporter of Carolina Nursing, UNC and public health institutions. She earned her BSN at the SON in 1956, eventually founding the UNC School of Nursing Foundation. She has dedicated her time to many organizations, serving as a member of the UNC General Alumni Association Board of Directors and Chairman of the UNC Board of Visitors, Durham County Selection Committee, Morehead Foundation, Durham County General Hospital Corporation, and Durham County Healthy Carolinians.
Carolyn and her late husband, Will London, have two children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Cathy Madigan received her BSN from Vanderbilt University, her Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences System, and her doctorate from UNC School of Nursing. Her previous roles include Director of the Cardiac Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1996-2003, and Director of the Children’s Cardiac Program at the Denver Children’s Hospital/University of Colorado Health Sciences System from 1991 – 1996.
Dr. Madigan first joined UNC Hospitals in 2003 as Director of Cardiac Services. From 2008-2016, she served as UNC Hospitals’ Vice President of Nursing and Associate Chief Nursing Officer. She became UNC Hospitals’ Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and Senior Vice President in 2016, and in 2019 was promoted to the Chief Nurse Executive for UNC Health.
Eric Wolak is an adjunct faculty member at the UNC School of Nursing and the Gillings School of Public Health and serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at Chatham Hospital, a UNC Health Care facility in Siler City, NC. Since receiving his BSN from the UNC SON (’00) he has been a nurse for 22 years. Eric earned his MSN at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (’07), his MHA at the University of Washington at Seattle (’12) and DNP from the UNC SON (’19).
He and his wife, who is also a nurse, live in downtown Durham, NC and have two adorable cats named Diamond and Pearls for the Prince song. He is an avid (but not good) chess player.