By Lois Thomson
South Florida is thousands of miles away from Reno, NV, which means that when Cameron Duncan moved across the country to accept a position as dean at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), he was leaving family and friends behind. It was a difficult decision, but as he commented, “I was moving away from my immediate family I’d been close to all my life, but I now have a new family here with my colleagues.”
That sense of belonging has defined Dean Duncan’s journey since arriving at FAU to serve as Dean of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and CEO of the FAU/Northwest Community Health Alliance Community Health Center. Previously, he had been serving as interim dean of the Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The opportunity at FAU came into view when a colleague at UNR stepped away to serve as interim dean at FAU and encouraged Duncan to take a closer look.
“That’s when I first learned about the college,” Dean Duncan said, adding that its foundation is dedicated to caring science – advancing the science, studying the meaning, practicing the art, and living caring day-to-day. “She told me you would love it here, you should consider it, and that’s exactly what I did. As I read more about this college, it made me want to join because this is how I live my life and how I practice as a nurse. But when I arrived, I saw that it wasn’t just a philosophy. It was being lived out in real ways, every single day.”
As dean of the college, Duncan wears many hats. He oversees faculty and staff, operations, budgets and finances, fundraising and development, and a wide range of community partnerships. Yet he approaches every responsibility through the same lens.
“I do all of this through a caring science lens,” he explained. “My role is also to support and elevate students, faculty, and staff, helping them meet their goals, graduate on time, earn promotion, do meaningful research, or navigate challenges. Whatever their need is, it is my priority.”
Since assuming the role in January 2025, Dean Duncan has made it clear that listening is central to his leadership. One of his most popular initiatives is fittingly called Dean Duncan and Donuts.
FAU’s Boca Raton campus houses most of the College of Nursing’s services, but nursing students also study on the Davie campus. Duncan wanted to ensure every student, on every campus, had a direct and open line to the dean.
“Twice each semester, I invite students to spend an hour with me,” he said. “I bring donuts, a sweet treat, or lunch. The door is closed, and I listen to what’s going well and what’s not. Then I take those concerns back to leadership and faculty so we can work on real solutions.”
The impact has been tangible. After students on the Davie campus shared that they lacked a dedicated place to study, relax, or eat between classes, funding was allocated to create a student lounge, turning feedback into action.
He has taken the same thoughtful, equity-driven approach with faculty. Duncan identified that not all faculty previously had clear pathways to promotion to associate or full professor. He implemented a process to ensure every faculty member now has that opportunity. He also addressed workload inequities by establishing policies to compensate faculty who teach additional courses or voluntarily take on more responsibilities.
Despite how naturally he seems to fit into his role today, leadership was never part of his original plan.
“As a kid, I wanted to be a pediatrician,” Duncan said. “My pediatrician was a mentor, someone I admired and wanted to emulate.” But that mentor gently advised otherwise, telling him he might not enjoy the politics of medicine and suggesting nursing instead.
“At the time, I hated that idea,” Duncan laughed. “Being a pediatrician was my dream.”
Still, he chose nursing, and once he entered nursing school, everything clicked. “I understood exactly why he said that. Nursing is where I belong.”
As a nurse practitioner, Duncan began mentoring students in his clinical practice. When he was later invited to teach, he said yes, unaware that decision would set him on a path to becoming Psychiatric Mental Health Program Director, then interim dean, and eventually bringing him to FAU.
Reflecting on his time at FAU, his certainty is unmistakable. “From the second I stepped onto the campus I knew this is where I belong,” Dean Duncan said. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
For more information, call (561) 297-3000 or visit www.fau.edu/nursing.
