Dear Campus Community,
I write to you with mixed emotions to let you know that the dean of the School of Nursing, Angela Amar, will step down from her position at UNLV on July 31 in order to become dean of the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at NYU.
Angela joined UNLV as the dean of the School of Nursing in January 2018, bringing with her extensive expertise in mental health and forensic nursing. Previously, she held positions at Emory University, Georgetown University, and Boston College, where she advanced innovative nursing curriculum and forensic nursing programs.
During her time as dean, Angela focused on the School of Nursing’s commitment to increasing community access to healthcare. The school grew its enrollment in its B.S. Nursing program and Family Nurse Practitioner program, as well as created a new Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track to help meet the demand for qualified healthcare providers in Southern Nevada. She secured a grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development that allowed the school to offer more continuing education opportunities for nurses. Angela has also created pathways to recruit students from our local community. The popular Nurse Camp, which started in 2019 and shows high school students what it means to be a nurse, continues to be one of the best performing summer camps at UNLV.
As a long-time advocate for diversifying the nursing profession, Angela has facilitated strong community partnerships and opportunities for students to understand the needs of our diverse and underserved populations. The school’s culturally-responsive curriculum works to prepare students to face and address the local and national challenges that healthcare workers confront, including inequities and a shortage of providers.
Through the challenges of the pandemic, Angela skillfully guided the School of Nursing’s engagement with the community as faculty, staff, and students distributed PPE to healthcare workers, performed temperature screenings at UMC, and assisted with the administration of more than 100,000 vaccines at the Student Union vaccination site. Angela was part of the trusted network of UNLV health experts who educated the community and encouraged the use of important safety measures.
Angela’s work to ensure students receive a comprehensive and community-minded education has resulted in consistently high U.S. News & World Report rankings for the school’s online nursing programs. Under her leadership, the online master’s programs ranked 15th in 2022 and moved up to 10th overall this year.
While at UNLV, Angela continued to be an active researcher and participant in national nursing organizations and committees. She is the co-author of an award-winning book, A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing, and has published numerous academic papers.
On behalf of President Whitfield and the Academic Council, I thank Angela for her leadership and dedication to advancing the School of Nursing over the past five years and wish her much success in her new role at NYU.
Warm regards,
Chris L. Heavey, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
Professor of Psychology