Conway to give keynote address at Nursing Education Building groundbreaking ceremony
August 9, 2024
Carolina Nursing is proud to announce that William E. ‘Bill’ Conway, Jr., will be the keynote speaker for this fall’s groundbreaking ceremony of the new Nursing Education Building.
The event will be held Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at 3 p.m. at The Blue Zone at Kenan Stadium, followed by a reception and school-wide expo of student and faculty activities. The celebration is free and open to the public, and all are welcome to attend.
Conway is the co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group and one of the leading philanthropists supporting nursing education in the United States. Conway and his late-wife Joanne last spring made a $5 million commitment to Carolina Nursing through their Bedford Falls Foundation, the largest gift in the school’s history dedicated to student support.
With this investment, the school established the Conway Scholars program, which, for a period of five years, more than doubles the amount of annual scholarship funding available for the school’s baccalaureate program. In its inaugural year, the program supports 51 students. Over the next five years. the Conway Scholars Program will support many more nursing students, alleviating some of the financial barriers that stand in the way of their education.
Prominent Washington, D.C.-area philanthropists and supporters of nursing education, the Conways have committed more than $300 million to nursing schools since 2013, placing them among the largest philanthropic supporters of nurses and nursing education in the nation. This gift last March was the Conways’ first to a North Carolina school.
“We are so grateful to be able to feature Mr. Conway as our keynote speaker at the groundbreaking. His and Joanne’s visionary philanthropy and their profound impact on nursing education are as singular and instructive as they are inspiring,” said Valerie Howard, dean of the School of Nursing. “He will bring a unique perspective on the rationale for and privileges of supporting our great profession and the students who enter it.”
The upcoming Nursing Education Building is the long-awaited new 110,000 square-foot facility that will replace the outdated 1969 wing of Carrington Hall, half of the school’s current home. The building will increase the school’s overall space by 20,000 square feet and provide a modern structure complete with the latest technologies to better prepare students for the modern health care environment and to allow for current and future program expansion and more innovative learning opportunities.
Like the Conways’ gift, the new building is essential to the school’s plans to admit and educate more students, eventually expanding enrollment by 50 percent by 2026, and means more Carolina Nurses entering the workforce to provide quality, compassionate care on the frontlines of health care systems.
Visit our website to learn more about the Groundbreaking Ceremony and the Nursing Education Building.
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Building the Future of Nursing
With partial funding from the state of North Carolina in hand, we now need private partners who understand the critical role a new facility will play in promoting the health and well-being of patients for years to come.
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About the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing
Established in 1950, the UNC School of Nursing is part of a cutting-edge, research-intensive university with top-ranked schools of medicine, public health, pharmacy, dentistry and social work located just steps away and adjacent to the renowned UNC Hospitals.
A globally top-ranked public school of nursing, Carolina Nursing provides a diverse, energetic and collegial environment for participating in world-class interprofessional education, scientific inquiry and practice opportunities. The school offers BSN, MSN, DNP and PhD degree programs, as well as post-graduate certificate programs.
As a leading provider of bedside nurses and nurse practitioners, educators, researchers and leaders devoted to public health and access, the UNC School of Nursing is uniquely positioned to serve the front lines of the most pressing health care challenges we face today.
For more information, visit nursing.unc.edu.