The School of Nursing Advisory Board exists to support the School of Nursing in its efforts to:
- Actualize the mission of the School of Nursing
- Achieve the objectives of the School of Nursing
The Advisory Board provides this support through a range of activities, many of which serve to advance donor relations, enhance the visibility of School of Nursing programs and activities in the broader community and region, and promote enrollment and retention in the School of Nursing programs.
Purpose and Functions
The purpose and functions of the UNCG School of Nursing Advisory Board are to:
- Advise the School of Nursing dean on issues pertaining to the School of Nursing mission and strategic plan.
- Advocate for, and serve as an ambassador of, the School of Nursing.
- Help connect the School of Nursing with external partners, organizations, health care agencies, and elected officials in support of the vibrancy and quality of its academic programs.
- Assist the School of Nursing dean and the School of Nursing Development Office with the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of external support.
Leadership
The School of Nursing Advisory Board is led by dedicated individuals who bring expertise, passion, and commitment to their respective roles:
POSITION | NAME |
|---|---|
Chair | Vivian Dennis |
Vice Chair | Kathy Foster |
Donor Relations Committee Chair | Vacant |
Student Support Committee Chair | Kathy Foster |
Alumni Relations Committee Chair | Davette Williams |
Meet Our Members
Vi-Anne Antrum
Antrum is a seasoned executive with more than 25 years of nursing and operations experience. She currently serves as the systemwide Chief Nursing Officer and is a Senior Vice President for Cone Health, an integrated health system in Greensboro. Vi-Anne has contributed to the body of nursing knowledge through a variety of publications, presentations, and task forces. She is a member of the American Organization of Nursing Leaders (AONL) System Chief Nurse Executive Committee, NCHA’s workforce advisory council, and will be part of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine Equity & Nursing task force.
She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Organization of Nursing Leaders, Sigma Theta Tau, the North Carolina Nurses Association, and the American Nurses Association.
Bridgett Byrd Sellars
’95, ’09 MSN serves as the CEO and founder of Dr. Sellars Educate. She founded the company in 2019 after supporting nurse educators over the past 10 years in advancing their teaching skills and achieving certification as certified nurse educators. Bridgett has a passion for nursing education and quality patient care. Throughout her 28 years in nursing, she has served in several educational and leadership roles, including director and associate professor of an RN-to-BSN program, associate professor, assistant professor, and chief nursing officer.
She is an active member of ANCC, NLN, AACN, and ACHE and serves as a commissioner on the ANCC NCPD Commission on Accreditation. Bridgett completed her PhD in nursing at the University of San Diego in 2012, focusing on transformational leadership practices. She is also a graduate of UNC Greensboro, where she completed both her BSN and MSN. Her personal interests include exercising with her family, spending time on the beaches of California and Virginia, and serving her community through her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Vivian Dennis
’85 holds an MBA in healthcare management with a dual degree in human resources. She is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, and her stint includes serving as a mentor and clinical analyst, managing and supporting operations while empowering nurses in their career development. Her assignments in Afghanistan were commander, intensive care services for the Craig Joint Theater Hospital, and inspector general in Kabul. She served in various roles as chief nurse, commander, health professions recruiter, and clinical researcher. As a board member and thought leader, Vivian professes to work collectively with stakeholders to ensure a team-centric approach to the School of Nursing’s mission and vision.
Lynn Erdman
’77 BSN is a nationally recognized healthcare leader, nurse, executive, author, and speaker whose nearly five decades of leadership have been guided by a steadfast commitment to improving the health and lives of women, families, and communities. Throughout her career, she has combined executive leadership, clinical expertise, advocacy, and service to advance healthcare, strengthen the nursing profession, and expand access to quality care.
Erdman has held senior national leadership positions with four major healthcare organizations—the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen, the American College of Surgeons, and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), where she served as chief executive officer. Earlier in her career, she held executive leadership roles with Atrium Health and Novant Health. A lifelong advocate for women’s health and cancer care, Erdman has championed initiatives to expand access to care, advance prevention and early detection, support research, and shape healthcare policy. She has served on numerous national, state, and community boards and commissions, including being appointed by N.C. Governor Beverly Perdue as the first nurse to chair the N.C. Advisory Committee on Cancer Coordination and Control. Erdman brings extensive governance and leadership experience to her board service.
She recently completed a six-year term as a trustee of William Peace University, where she helped establish the university’s RN-to-BSN program. She has also served on nursing advisory boards for the UNC Charlotte and Duke University. Her commitment to developing future leaders is reflected in an endowed scholarship she established at the UNCG School of Nursing. An accomplished author and speaker, Erdman has contributed to professional journals, textbooks, and public publications and has presented nationally and internationally on women’s health, oncology, leadership, ethics, pain management, and the use of humor in healthcare.
Since retiring as a nonprofit CEO in 2022 and from clinical practice in 2026, Erdman has continued her commitment to service through volunteer nursing, leadership, mentoring, and healthcare advocacy. She volunteers her nursing expertise with Charlotte Rescue Mission, Hospitality House of Charlotte, and Planned Parenthood. Her honors include the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award, the University’s Distinguished Service Award, and induction as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).
Betty Forrest
’75. BSN. After a career in public health nursing, Forrest joined her husband in their business of land development and construction. She has always remained committed to the health and well-being of the community, as well as quality nursing education. She established the Betty Jo Wall Forrest and Hayes Womble Forrest Family Legacy Endowment Scholarship Fund in memory of her late husband and family to support students in the School of Nursing.
Forrest is an active member of the Greensboro community who maintains relationships with the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro and various other organizations. Currently, she is serving as a board member with the Piedmont Land Conservancy. Her primary interests include matters related to child welfare, land conservation, preservation of wildlife habitat, and history. She enjoys attending local music and drama productions and is an avid supporter of the arts. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and discovering the natural areas and historic sites in her home state of North Carolina.
Kathy Foster
’84, ’92 MSN worked with the Cone Health System for 34 years, 1984-2018. Her positions there included staff nurse on the inpatient, neuro/ortho rehabilitation unit, and, after completing her MSN, clinical nurse specialist for both inpatient and subacute rehabilitation. She transitioned to Cone Health’s long-term care division in 2001 as a quality manager. From 2007 to 18, she worked in the Cone Health Medical Group division as a director of the Family Medicine Center. Since leaving Cone Health in 2018, Kathy has worked as a quality improvement coordinator for AuthoraCare Care Collective Hospice. Her awards and recognitions include induction into North Carolina’s Great 100 in 1994 and the recipient of the 2018 UNCG School of Nursing’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Her community activities include serving on the board of directors of the ALS Association, North Carolina chapter. She has also served as president of the School of Nursing’s Alumni Association and on the UNCG Board of Visitors.
Robbie Franks
’83 BSN worked with the VA Medical Center in Durham and Rex Hospital in Raleigh in
Surgical Intensive Care serving as a staff nurse, including charge nurse
responsibilities for almost five years. Seeking a career change while staying in a
nursing capacity, she worked in an outpatient pediatric clinic for one year before
finding her passion, which resulted in a long career in clinical research.
Throughout her 35-year career, Robbie served in many roles, from entry-level Clinical Research Associate to Vice President and General Partner. She was successful in maintaining long-term business relationships with several of the largest biopharmaceutical companies globally; she was involved and held leadership roles in the development of new products across several therapeutic areas, including dyslipidemia, epilepsy, pain management, and oncology care management, culminating in the FDA approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine. Robbie’s greatest supporter throughout her collegiate and professional careers was her husband, Marc. Through this success, she was able to pay it forward and endow a scholarship for the School of Nursing in 2020, initially named the Gay Williams Martin endowed scholarship fund. Following the sudden death of her beloved husband of 38 years in 2023, she renamed the scholarship to The Marc and Robbie Franks Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Daria Kring
’88, BSN, ’95, MSN, 08, PhD is a three-time graduate of UNCG’s School of Nursing. A recognized leader in nursing practice, research, and professional development. Dr. Kring also received the UNCG School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012.
Today, Dr. Kring serves as Vice President of the Center for Professional Practice & Development at Novant Health, where she leads initiatives related to nursing professional development, clinical practice, innovation, nurse residency programs, Magnet Recognition, and patient education. She has spent nearly two decades in leadership roles within the Novant Health system.
Bobbi Osguthorpe
’83 served as a PRN consultant for MTS/KCI in Raleigh from 2008-15. Before that, she was vice president of the western region for clinical, marketing, and operations for MTS/KCI from 2001 to 2008.
In addition, Bobbi has experience as a lecturer and clinical instructor, as well as a critical care nurse. She has received various honors during her career, including being inducted into the North Carolina’s Great 100 in 1991. She received the UNCG School of Nursing’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997. In 1987, she began working to secure funding for an endowed scholarship for School of Nursing students by 1999. Bobbi received the Minerva Award for Distinguished Service from UNCG in 2025.
Larry Pulliam
With more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, Larry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from East Carolina University. He served as Senior Vice President of Investments at Wells Fargo for the past nine years and recently retired. Larry serves on the Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center Foundation and is active at West Market Methodist in Greensboro.
His late wife, Cindy Jarrett-Pulliam, was a two-time UNCG alumna and served on our advisory board. She earned her BSN and MSN in 1981 and 1984, respectively. She married the love of her life, Larry Pulliam, in 1983, and together they raised two sons, Spencer and Christian. She was extremely proud of her boys and their partners, Elizabeth Spangler Pulliam and McKenzie Montana. She especially loved being a doting grandmother to her only granddaughter, Palmer Bailey, at the time of her death. Throughout Cindy’s life, she was focused on her family and her lifelong calling to nursing and healthcare. She practiced for more than 30 years in acute care hospital settings across the local region and was admired for her promotion of health, passion for patient care, and desire to mentor future nursing leaders. Cindy served as a vice president and chief nursing executive at Novant Health, with responsibility for the Greater Winston-Salem market.
Their philanthropy includes the Cindy Jarrett Pulliam Scholarship at UNCG and the Cindy Jarrett Pulliam Scholarship Fund at the Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center Foundation.
Glenda Schillinger
’82 is the founder and director of GJJAMS Foundation, a private, non-profit organization that focuses on women’s issues, children, and education. She joined the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps after graduating from UNCG in 1982 and was stationed in the Philippines and Germany.
Throughout the U.S., her experience in medical-surgical nursing, neonatal intensive care, labor and delivery nursing, setting up and running a hospice program, organizing a same-day surgery clinic, and perinatal grief training led her back to school after she left the Air Force. Glenda got her MSW in clinical social work at Arizona State University and worked with high-risk middle school students. She also has experience in real estate as a small-business owner and investor. Glenda is the proud mother of two sons and three grandchildren.
Davette Williams
‘89 BA, ‘10 MSN served as Hospitalist NP with Novant Health from 2016 to 2025 and with Cornerstone Healthcare in High Point Regional Hospital, 2011 to 2016. Davette achieved her BSN in 2006 in the accelerated nursing program at WSSU and worked as an ICU nurse at WFU BMC until 2010. Before that, she was a stay-at-home mother to her two daughters for 10 years. She initially attended the UNC School of Medicine after college and briefly worked in medical research at UVA.
Davette chose to attend UVA law school and graduated in 1993. Despite her interest in the law, she never practiced and ultimately chose motherhood and a nursing career. Working as a Hospitalist’s NP proved to be a great career choice. Davette became proficient in hospital medicine, transitional care, and surgical perioperative medicine. Her personal interests include reading, movies, and interior design. She has been married to Elliott for 37 years and has two daughters. Elise is 31, and Selena is 28.
William “Will” Truslow, MD
‘83, M.S. Nutrition, is a retired rheumatologist and a native of Reidsville, North Carolina. He established a scholarship for the UNCG School of Nursing in memory of his wife, Mary.
He began his undergraduate studies at Guilford College and continued at the University of Colorado – Boulder, where he graduated in 1976. Dr. Truslow earned a Master of Science in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from UNCG in 1983 and his medical degree from East Carolina University in 1988.
He served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Cone Hospital from 1991 to 1992. Dr. Truslow further specialized with a Rheumatology Fellowship at Emory University from 1992 to 1994. He established a solo Rheumatology practice in Greensboro, North Carolina, which he maintained from 1994 to 2018.
Dr. Truslow has a long record of volunteer service. He served on the executive committee of the Greater Greensboro Society of Medicine from 2006, holding positions as Treasurer and President. He has served on the boards of the Piedmont Land Conservancy, the Dan River Basin Association, and the Reidsville Free Clinic (2013–2018). Additionally, he served on the East Carolina University Health Foundation Board from 2021 to 2024.