Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor and Former Dean of the Duke University School of Nursing
Raleigh, NC and San Francisco, CA

GillissCatherine Gilliss is currently on leave from Duke University, following ten successful and fulfilling years in the positions of Dean and Vice Chancellor for Nursing Affairs; she stepped down in August 2014.

Catherine has held faculty appointments in universities offering higher degrees in nursing throughout her career as well as administrative academic leadership positions: Chair, UCSF’s Department of Family Health Nursing (1993-1998); Dean of the Yale University School of Nursing (1998-2004); and Dean and Vice Chancellor at Duke (2004-2014). Her academic leadership roles and involvement in the governance of professional societies/community boards (e.g., President, American Academy of Nursing; Regent, University of Portland; and Board Member, Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers) has strengthened her commitment to the development of leadership skills in others. Catherine now serves as a Director of CHIMERIX, a publically traded biopharmaceutical company devoted to discovery, development and commercialization of novel, oral antivirals in areas of high unmet medical need.
Catherine’s scientific interests focus on complex social organizations, particularly the family and its response to and role in shaping the course of chronic illness. Her scholarly works in family studies are considered pioneering.

Catherine earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University; her MSN degree from The Catholic University of America; a post-MS certificate from the University of Rochester; and completed her doctoral and post-doctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

Partner: Thomas P. Gilliss