Editor's Note: This message was sent to the DUSON community from Dean Vincent Guilamo-Ramos on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

On December 21, 2021, our community mourned the loss of DNP student Carol Darwin. I have learned and wanted to share that the Office of the Provost has approved a request from the Duke University School of Nursing to award a posthumous Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Ms. Darwin’s honor at our Spring 2022 Hooding and Graduation Ceremony. Darwin’s mother, Laura Pollock, will receive the degree on behalf of her late daughter. Additional family members to attend will include Carol’s husband, Robert; children, Carter and Luna; and father, Dr. Samuel Pollock, a 1976 graduate of Duke Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.  

Ms. Darwin joined DUSON in 2017 to pursue an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner – Acute Care post-graduate certificate. She served as a dual-certified adult-gerontology primary care and acute care nurse practitioner at Louisville Emergency Medical Associates, in Louisville, Kentucky.  

Ms. Darwin was an extraordinary nurse and nursing leader. She served as president-elect of the Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives and as APRN council member of the Kentucky Board of Nursing, a position to which she was appointed by the state governor. In recognition of service to community, state, and country, she was appointed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to the Honorable Order of the Kentucky Colonels — the highest honor bestowed by the State of Kentucky. Additionally, she received the American Association of Nurse Practitioners' Advocate State Award for Excellence for the State of Kentucky.  

Ms. Darwin’s passing has been greatly felt by all those who knew her, and I’m honored to offer this symbol to commemorate a bright student and a remarkable nurse whose legacy is enduring. 

The hooding and graduation ceremony will be at 6 p.m., on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.