Rebecca Hill named nursing’s senior associate dean for academic affairs
Her “focus on innovation and continuous improvement will be instrumental,” says Val Howard, UNC School of Nursing dean.
Rebecca Hill will be the UNC School of Nursing’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, effective Jan. 6, 2025.
In this role, Hill will oversee the planning, administration, evaluation and continuous improvement of the school’s academic programs, ensuring compliance with University, Graduate School, School of Nursing and accrediting standards. Working closely with UNC School of Nursing Dean Val Howard and other Carolina Nursing leaders, Hill will also help align and strengthen the school’s academic, scholarship, service and practice initiatives.
Hill comes to Carolina Nursing after working for over a decade at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions School of Nursing in Boston. In her most recent role as associate dean of academic affairs, she led all academic nursing programs, including baccalaureate, master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. Her work in Boston included teaching in prelicensure and master’s programs, developing a Master of Science in Nursing Education program and representing the school at academic medical centers, within the organization and with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing.
Hill’s commitment to excellence in nursing education earned her recognition, including the Nancy T. Watts Award — the highest faculty distinction at the institute — for exceptional teaching in 2019. She continues to practice as a family nurse practitioner in college health and previously worked as a nurse practitioner in emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Her research focuses on problematic feeding in breastfeeding infants with a condition commonly referred to as tongue-tie. Hill is only the second nurse to receive grant funding from the Gerber Foundation and is currently investigating the physiological mechanics of breastfeeding in infants with tongue-tie, now known as ankyloglossia.
Hill is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Academy of Nursing, American Nurses Association, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, National League for Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau International. She currently serves as governor-at-large for the National League for Nursing and sits on the executive board of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island League for Nursing. She is also co-chair of the international committee on interprofessional research, education and ankyloglossia science and was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2023, where she serves on the breastfeeding expert panel.
“Hill’s leadership in nursing education and focus on innovation and continuous improvement will be instrumental as Carolina Nursing expands enrollment and access to our programs across the state,” Howard said. “We are thrilled she is joining Carolina Nursing and look forward to welcoming her to campus in the new year.”
Hill earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island, her Master of Science in Nursing, post-master’s certificate in nursing education and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Duke University, and her doctorate in nursing from Boston College. A family nurse practitioner and certified nurse educator, Hill is originally from Massachusetts and previously lived in North Carolina from 2008 to 2012.
