Faculty Mentors

Diversity

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Faculty Mentors

One difference between Penn and other schools of nursing is the mentorship offered to individual students. All students, including undergraduates, are paired with members of the standing faculty including full professors who serve as mentors.

Students of culturally diverse backgrounds are also supported through the Advisory Task Force on Diversity and Cultural Competence.

Many members of the faculty, including Dean Afaf I. Meleis and the director of the Office of Diversity and Cultural Affairs Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, come from diverse backgrounds. Here, they share their stories, from their beginnings to attaining graduate degrees, and employment at an Ivy League University where they serve as role models.

Norma Cuellar

"I am the 5th of 6 daughters born to a Mexican family and am a first generation of college graduates. I never wanted to be a “nurse” because I thought as a woman, I was certainly just as good as any man and could be a “doctor”. I quickly changed my mind when my dorm roommate talked to me about nursing and how excited she was about it. She was telling me all the things that nurses could do and she was describing what I wanted to do. So, I changed my major, graduated with a B.S. in nursing from University of Mississippi, went on for a masters at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, and then a doctorate at University of Alabama in Birmingham."