{"id":14312,"date":"2026-02-12T18:55:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/?p=14312"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:46:12","slug":"nau-announces-the-maria-and-steve-sanghi-college-of-nursing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/about\/news\/nau-announces-the-maria-and-steve-sanghi-college-of-nursing\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU announces the Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A new era for nursing at NAU\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EKpRmUfUgHg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Northern Arizona University (NAU)\u00a0has named its College of Nursing the Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing in recognition of a\u00a0recent\u00a0gift from longtime NAU supporters Maria and Steve Sanghi. One of the largest gifts\u00a0since launching\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/elevate.foundationnau.org\/stories-of-impact\/news-and-announcements\/launching-elevate-the-campaign-for-nau\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Elevate, NAU\u2019s\u00a0$300 million\u00a0comprehensive fundraising campaign<\/a>, the investment will strengthen nursing education, expand student and faculty support and help address Arizona\u2019s critical nursing workforce shortage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gift&nbsp;establishes&nbsp;new funds to support academic excellence, career readiness, leadership&nbsp;development&nbsp;and faculty impact across the college&nbsp;and&nbsp;creates&nbsp;a distinguished deanship to provide sustained leadership and strategic support.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The naming of the College of Nursing marks the Sanghis\u2019\u00a0second named\u00a0college at NAU. In October 2024, Maria and Steve Sanghi\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.nau.edu\/steve-sanghi-college-of-engineering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">named the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering<\/a>, further\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0their deep commitment to advancing access,\u00a0excellence\u00a0and workforce preparation\u00a0across multiple high-need fields in Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMaria and I have always believed that caring for people is at the center of strong communities. Nursing embodies that belief every day,\u201d Steve Sanghi&nbsp;said.&nbsp;\u201cIt is an honor to partner with Northern Arizona University to support nursing education and to help prepare compassionate, skilled professionals who will care for patients and families throughout Arizona.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arizona is experiencing the largest nursing workforce shortage in the country. The state faces an estimated 30,000-nurse deficit, and&nbsp;nearly three million residents lack reliable access to primary care, with rural, Tribal and&nbsp;low-income&nbsp;communities hit hardest. NAU\u2019s College of Nursing plays a critical role in addressing this challenge by preparing students with the clinical&nbsp;expertise, cultural responsiveness and leadership skills needed to serve where the need is greatest. Eighty percent of NAU nursing graduates&nbsp;remain&nbsp;in Arizona after graduation, helping strengthen the state\u2019s healthcare workforce.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHealthcare is essential to Arizona\u2019s prosperity and to the well-being of our communities,\u201d NAU President Jos\u00e9 Luis Cruz Rivera&nbsp;said. \u201cThrough this extraordinary investment, Maria and Steve Sanghi are helping NAU expand access to high-quality nursing education and prepare the next generation of nurses who will serve our state for years to come\u2014strengthening care and opportunity in communities across Arizona, from our population centers to rural, Tribal and underserved regions.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gift also advances NAU\u2019s broader philanthropic vision by investing directly in students and faculty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPhilanthropy has the power to change lives at scale, and this gift exemplifies that impact,\u201d said Nick&nbsp;Lobejko,&nbsp;Vice President&nbsp;of Advancement&nbsp;and CEO of the NAU Foundation. \u201cThe Sanghis\u2019 continued leadership and generosity&nbsp;strengthen the foundation of&nbsp;nursing education at NAU&nbsp;and will&nbsp;inspire future philanthropic investments&nbsp;in the healthcare workforce Arizona urgently needs.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gift&nbsp;establishes&nbsp;the&nbsp;Maria and Steve Sanghi Distinguished Deanship of Nursing, now&nbsp;held by Dean Janina Johnson.&nbsp;The deanship provides flexible support for strategic priorities,&nbsp;including student success initiatives, faculty&nbsp;scholarship&nbsp;and professional development, academic&nbsp;programming&nbsp;and leadership advancement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe&nbsp;Sanghis\u2019 investment allows us to elevate every aspect of the student and faculty experience,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cFrom preparing students for complex clinical environments to supporting faculty innovation and scholarship, this gift strengthens our ability to educate&nbsp;confident,&nbsp;compassionate&nbsp;nurses for generations to come.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Building on this momentum, the university is moving forward with plans for a new College of Nursing facility that will&nbsp;allow enrollment to grow by up to&nbsp;two and a half&nbsp;times while expanding hands-on clinical training opportunities. Together, the naming of the Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing and future investments in facilities,&nbsp;faculty&nbsp;and programs position NAU to meet Arizona\u2019s healthcare workforce needs&nbsp;now&nbsp;and into the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Northern Arizona University (NAU)\u00a0has named its College of Nursing the Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing in recognition of a\u00a0recent\u00a0gift from longtime NAU supporters Maria and Steve Sanghi. One of the largest gifts\u00a0since launching\u00a0Elevate, NAU\u2019s\u00a0$300 million\u00a0comprehensive fundraising campaign, the investment will strengthen nursing education, expand student and faculty support and help address Arizona\u2019s critical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":847,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nau-college-of-nursing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/847"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14313,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312\/revisions\/14313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}