Catherine L. Gilliss, dean of the Duke University School of Nursing, announced that she will step down from her post at the end of the 2013-14 academic year. She will have served as dean of the nursing school for a decade. Dr. Gilliss also serves as the Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of Nursing and as vice chancellor for nursing affairs for the Duke University Health System. Prior to coming to Duke in 2004, she taught at the nursing schools of the University of California at San Francisco and Yale University.
During her tenure as dean, the nursing school added Ph.D. and doctor of nursing practice degree programs and enrollment in the nursing school doubled to more than 800 students. The number of full-time faculty has increased from 33 to more than 80. When she became dean nine years ago, Duke ranked 30th in NIH grant funding among nursing schools. Today it ranks tenth.
Dr. Gilliss is a graduate of the Duke University School of Nursing and the first graduate to later become dean. She holds a master’s degree from the Catholic University of America and a Ph.D. from the University of California at San Francisco. She is a past president of the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties and the American Academy of Nursing.