Filipina nurse-scholar named dean of University of Hawaii’s school of nursing

Dr. Clementina D. Ceria-Ulep. UH NEWS

A Filipino nurse-academician and community leader has been named permanent dean of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing (NAWSON), effective April 1, 2023.

Dr. Clementina D. Ceria-Ulep has been acting dean from Aug. 1 to Oct.31, 2021, and as interim dean since Nov. 1, 2021. Ceria-Ulep joined the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene faculty at UH Mānoa in 1993 and has taught in both undergraduate and graduate programs, and held various leadership positions, according to the University of Hawaii News.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Ceria-Ulep has accepted the permanent dean position to continue to lead (the School of Nursing) in providing quality education, research and service for our students, faculty, alumni and community partners,” said UH Manoa Provost Michael Bruno. “Her long career in healthcare coupled with her dedication and passion for the profession, make her an asset to the school and the university.”

Her clinical practice areas are in adult health and administration, and research focusing on healthy aging, physical activity and physical function.

“I welcome this opportunity with gratitude and joy,” said Ceria-Ulep. “I am honored and privileged, and at the same time humbled to be selected as the permanent dean of the UH Mānoa Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing.”

As acting and interim dean, Ceria-Ulep led and coordinated the school’s academic, curricular, research and service programs to pursue the strategic plans of UH Mānoa and UH System.  She was previously associate dean for academic affairs, overseeing the programmatic development and quality assurance of the department of nursing and dental hygiene.

Her leadership has earned her numerous honors, including Outstanding Alumni of the UH Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Excellence in Nursing Research Award from the Filipino Nurses of Hawaii, the Fr. Ernest Claes outstanding leadership award from the Oʻahu Council of Filipino Catholic Club, PRIDE Award from the Philippine Nurses Association of Hawaiʻi and fellow from the Pacific Century Fellows Program.

She was instrumental in implementing the Hawaiʻi Statewide Nursing Consortium in 2010, the development of new undergraduate pathways to the bachelor’s degree, and the launch of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2013.

As co-principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health grant, Ceria-Ulep helped to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary time in Filipino older adults who are lay leaders from Filipino Catholic Clubs in Hawaiʻi.

As chair of the Long-Term Care task force of the Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) she helped pass Act 102, which provides working families a daily allowance for caregiving services for elderly family members. Hawaiʻi was first in the nation to pass such a law.

Ceria-Ulep also pushed for the renovation of Kalihi Valley Homes, the installation traffic safeguard in the once dangerous Waiau interchange and bus shelters in Kalihi Valley and Waipahu, and in securing priority seating for the elderly on Honolulu city buses.

Ceria-Ulep earned her bachelor of science and master of science degrees in nursing administration from UH Mānoa and received her PhD in nursing administration from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.