Crystal Tillman will be the commencement speaker for the College of Pharmacy & Health Science’s 2018 spring ceremony, the college announced this week. Tillman is the director of education and practice for the North Carolina Board of Nursing, a position she has held since 2010.
“We are honored to have Dr. Tillman as our commencement speaker,” said Dean Michael L. Adams (PharmD ’96). “She has a clinical, educational and administrative background to pull from when addressing our graduates and guests. We look forward to welcoming her to campus.”
Prior to her work at the Board of Nursing, Tillman was a program chair and nursing educator for eight years in Charlotte, where she was also a pediatric nurse practitioner for 11 years. She’s currently a psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner assisting clients with addiction and opioid use disorder.
She is also serving her fourth year on the NCLEX Examinations Committee at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing in Chicago. The committee advises the board of directors on matters related to the NCLEX exam process and advising for the Next Generation NCLEX exam.
Tillman earned her bachelors of science in nursing degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, and her MSN and DNP from Duke University. She recently completed a four-year fellowship in regulatory practice and is now a fellow of regulatory excellence.
This year’s choice of commencement speaker pairs perfectly with the graduation of the inaugural class of the Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing.
The College will also be celebrating the graduation of the 29th class of pharmacists earning the Doctor of Pharmacy degree along with undergraduate degrees in general science, undergraduate and graduate degrees in clinical research and pharmaceutical sciences, graduate degrees in public health, and a doctorate degree in physical therapy.
The College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences graduation exercises will be held at 3 p.m. in the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center in Buies Creek on May 11.