Celebrating 75 Years

Elizabeth Scott Carrington campaigns for the School of Nursing.

School is chartered and Elizabeth Louanna Kemble is appointed the first dean.

The first class of 27 students is admitted and first three faculty members are hired.

The undergraduate program is approved by the State Board of Nursing.

“Mrs. Carrington’s Committee” is formed to assist the SON with recruiting and fundraising. The Committee will eventually become the School of Nursing Foundation.

The first RN student is admitted to the RN-to-BSN program. The School gets its first research grant from the U.S. Public Health Service.

Dorothy Ketner becomes the first RN to receive a BSN degree.

The first class graduates, and the SON is granted full accreditation by the National League of Nursing. It is the first school in the state and one of the few in the South to be accredited.

The Alumni Association is formed and the first master’s student, Audrey Booth, is admitted.

Audrey Booth, the first master’s student, graduates.

The School of Nursing receives a Sigma Theta Tau charter as the Alpha Alpha chapter.

The Office of Continuing Education is established. It is the nation’s first such program housed in a state university.

Ruth Anderson Stephens becomes the first Black graduate of the School.

$1.1 million in federal funds are received to build a new School of Nursing (now Carrington Hall).

Carrington Hall breaks ground, and Lucy H. Conant is appointed dean.

Carrington Hall is dedicated. 250 guests are expected; 400 attend the celebration.

The pilot FNP program is started; it is one of the first three FNP programs in the country.

George I. Rand becomes the first male graduate of the School.

Laurel Archer Copp is appointed dean.

Carrington Quarterly, what would become Carolina Nursing, publishes its first issue.

The first RN-BSN off-campus program is offered by the School with Fayetteville AHEC.

The School of Nursing Foundation, Inc. is chartered.

The first doctoral students are enrolled.

The Biobehavioral Laboratory is established as part of the Research Support Center, and the School initiates the first nursing PhD program in North Carolina.

The North Carolina General Assembly sets up grant funds for off-campus degree programs through AHEC.

Cynthia M. Freund is appointed dean.

Diane Hudson is the first doctoral student to graduate.

Linda R. Cronenwett is appointed dean.

Expansion to the Biobehavioral Laboratory begins.

Carrington Quarterly becomes Carolina Nursing.

The SON celebrates its golden anniversary, and a bond referendum passes for a $10M Carrington Hall addition.

North Carolina Board of Nursing approves SON for first accelerated BSN program in the state, immediately increasing enrollment as the state faced a nursing shortage.

The new addition to Carrington Hall breaks ground.

SON acquires a Standard Mannequin – Stan the Man – a human patient simulator that transforms clinical education in nursing.

First graduates celebrate 50th anniversary.

The new addition to Carrington Hall opens, the first UNC-system building to be LEED certified.

Kristen Swanson becomes the sixth dean.

The inaugural DNP class begins. It’s the first state-supported DNP program and the most advanced level of clinical education available to NC nurses.

Nilda ‘Nena’ Peragallo-Montano becomes the school’s seventh dean.

Classes move online in the COVID-19 pandemic, and SON students, faculty and alumni serve on the front lines to help.

Gov Roy Cooper allocates $45 million to SON for a new building on July 1, 2020.

FNP program celebrates 50 years.

Valerie Howard becomes the school’s 8th dean.

Joanne and William E. Conway Jr., prominent Washington, D.C.-area philanthropists and supporters of nursing education, pledge $5 million to support nursing students.

The New Nursing Education Building breaks ground.

The School of Nursing celebrates 75th anniversary.