About this School

The vision of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is to create an equitable inclusive community of wellness, health, discovery, and human dignity.

The mission of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is to prepare nurses who embrace diversity and promote health equity to improve the quality of life and human health in the Commonwealth and beyond by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery and public service.

The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing’s distinct focus and location generates many interprofessional opportunities for collaborative graduate education, research and practice because it is the only nursing school associated with a medical school in the commonwealth. The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is distinctive as the only publicly funded nursing school in the commonwealth with a sole focus on graduate nursing education. It is also one of only three nursing schools in New England based at an academic health sciences center, sharing campus resources and facilities with its clinical partner, UMass Memorial Medical Center, part of UMass Memorial Health Care.

According to the 2020 Rankings by the Nursing Schools Almanac, the UMass Chan Medical School, Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing ranked #2 overall in the state of Massachusetts.  In addition, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing ranked #4 overall in the New England region; #23 overall among all public nursing schools in the US; and #41 overall among all nursing schools in the United States (US).  In addition, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program is ranked in the top 50 nursing schools across the country (#47) nationally by US News & World Report 2022 Best Graduate Schools in Nursing. 

Link: http://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2016/07/graduate-school-of-nursing-ranked-among-top-nursing-schools-nationwide/

The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Accreditation was granted to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Post-Graduate Certification (PGC) APRN Program for 10 years, extending to June 30, 2035.  In addition, the Masters of Science (MS) program was granted accreditation for 10 years, extending to June 30, 2030.

Inquiries regarding the accreditation status by the CCNE should be directed to administrative staff at Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing. Individuals may also contact:

Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)

655 K Street, NW

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 887-6791

 

UMass Chan Medical School was accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education in 2012. UMass Chan Medical School consists of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the T.H. Chan School of Medicine.

Accreditation of an institution of higher education by NECHE indicates that it meets or exceeds criteria for the assessment of institutional quality periodically applied through a peer review process. An accredited college or university is one that has available the necessary resources to achieve its stated purposes through appropriate educational programs, is substantially doing so, and gives reasonable evidence that it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Institutional integrity is also addressed through accreditation.

Accreditation by the NECHE isn't partial but applies to the institution as a whole. As such, it is not a guarantee of every course or program offered, or the competence of individual graduates. Rather, it provides reasonable assurance about the quality of opportunities available to students who attend the institution.

Inquiries regarding the accrediation status by the NECHE should be directed to the administrative staff of the institution. Individuals may also contact:

New England Commission of Higher Education
3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100
Burlington, MA 01803-4514
(781) 425-7785
cihe@neasc.org

A list of institutions with educational affiliations at the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing are listed below:

• Ajay Anand, PC; Weston, Mass.
• Anchor Medical Associates; Lincoln, R.I.
• Assumption College; Worcester, Mass.
• Aum Healing Center; Boston, Mass.
• Barre Health Center; Barre, Mass.
• Bayberry Commons; Pascoag, R.I.
• Baystate Medical Center; Springfield, Mass.
• Baystate Noble Hospital; Westfield, Mass.
• Baystate Wing Hospital; Palmer, Mass.
• Beaumont Northbridge; Northbridge, Mass.
• Beaumont Rehab & Skilled Nursing Center; Westborough, Mass.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital; Needham, Mass.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Boston, Mass.
• Boston Community Medical Group; Boston, Mass.
• Boston Healthcare for the Homeless; Boston, Mass.
• Boston Medical Center; Boston, Mass.
• Brigham & Women’s Hospital; Boston, Mass.
• Brockton Hospital; Brockton, Mass.
• Brockton Neighborhood Center; Brockton, Mass.
• Cambridge Health Center Alliance; Cambridge, Mass.
• Caring Health Center; Springfield, Mass.
• Catholic Medical Center; Manchester, N.H.
• CentMass Association of Physicians; Leominster, Mass.
• Central New England Health Alliance, Inc; Leominster, Mass.
• Charles River Medical Associates, PC; Framingham, Mass.
• Charles River Primary Care; Hudson, Mass.
• Charlton Family Practice; Charlton, Mass.
• Charter Oak Health Center; Hartford, Conn.
• Child Health Association; Auburn, Mass.
• Children’s Hospital Boston; Boston, Mass.
• Clark University-Student Health; Worcester, Mass.
• Coastal Medical; East Providence, R.I.
• Coastal Medical Associates; Salisbury, Mass.
• Codman Square Health Center; Dorchester, Mass.
• Collaborative Care Services; Waltham, Mass.
• Community Care Alliance; Charlestown, Mass.
• Community Health Center of Franklin County; Greenfield, Mass.
• Community Health Connections Family Health Center; Fitchburg, Mass.
• Community Healthlink; Worcester, Mass.
• Concord Hospital; Concord, N.H.
• Connecticut Multi-Specialty Group; Enfield, Conn.
• Cooley Dickenson Hospital; Northampton, Mass.
• Countryside Healthcare of Milford; Milford, Mass.
• Dana Farber Cancer Institute; Boston, Mass.
• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, N.H.
• Dermatology Center of Worcester; Worcester, Mass,
• Devens Federal Medical Center/Federal Bureau of Prisons; Ayer, Mass,
• Doctor’s Express-Urgent Care; Natick, Mass.
• East Boston Neighborhood Health Clinic; East Boston, Mass.
• Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center; Framingham, Mass.
• Elliot Health System; Manchester, N.H.
• Emerson Hospital; Concord, Mass.
• EverCare; Waltham, Mass.
• Experience Wellness Centers; Springfield, Mass.
• Fairlawn Rehab Hospital; Worcester, Mass
• Family Health Center; Worcester, Mass.
• Family Medical and Maternity Care; Leominster, Mass.
• Fenway Health; Boston, Mass.
• Fitchburg State University Health Services; Fitchburg, Mass.
• Framingham State University; Framingham, Mass.
• Geriatric Authority of Milford; Milford, Mass.
• Golden Living Center; Fitchburg, Mass.
• Hamden County House of Correction; Ludlow, Mass.
• Harbor Health Services; Mattapan, Mass.
• Harrington Hospital; Southbridge, Mass.
• Harrington Physician Services; Southbridge, Mass.
• Harvard Family Medicine; Cambridge, Mass.
• Harvard University Health Services; Cambridge, Mass.
• Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates; Newton, Mass.
• Hawthorne Medical; No. Dartmouth, Mass.
• Health Alliance Home Health and Hospice; Leominster, Mass.
• Health South-Fairlawn Rehab Hospital; Worcester, Mass.
• Hebrew Senior Life; Boston, Mass.
• Integrative Medicine-The Rothfeld Group; Waltham, Mass.
• Jewish Health Care; Worcester, Mass.
• Kindred Hospital Park View-Vibra Hospital of Western MA; Rochdale, Mass.
• Kuchnir Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery; Marlborough, Mass.
• Lahey Clinic; Burlington, Mass.
• Lawrence General Hospital; Lawrence, Mass.
• LGH-Memorial Valley Cardiology; Chelmsford, Mass.
• Life Center of Auburn; Auburn, Mass.
• Longview Orthopedic Center; Leominster, Mass.
• Lowell General Hospital; Lowell, Mass.
• Marie Esther Health Center; Marlborough, Mass.
• Marlborough Hills HealthCare; Marlboro, Mass.
• Massachusetts General Hospital; Boston, Mass.
• Massachusetts Partnership for Correctional Health; Vienna, Va.
• Meadows of Leicester; Rochdale, Mass.
• Medical Associates Pediatrics; Leominster, Mass.
• Medway Country Manor; Medway, Mass.
• Merrimack Valley Cardiology; Chelmsford, Mass.
• Merrimack Valley Internal Medicine; No. Chelmsford, Mass.
• Metrowest Medical Center; Framingham, Mass.
• Milford Gastroenterology; Milford, Mass.
• Milford Regional Medical Center; Milford, Mass.
• Minute Clinic; Woonsocket, R.I.
• Miriam Hospital; Providence, R.I.
• MIT Medical Department; Boston, Mass.
• Mt. Auburn Healthcare; Medford, Mass.
• Mt. Auburn Primary Care; Cambridge, Mass.
• New England Baptist Hospital; Boston Mass.
• New England Reproductive Medicine and Surgery; Millbury, Mass.
• Newton-Wellesley Hospital; Newton, Mass.
• Noble Hospital; Westfield, Mass.
• No. Charles Institute for Addictions; Somerville, Mass.
• Northampton OB-GYN; Northampton, Mass.
• North Shore Medical Center; Salem, Mass.
• Northern Berkshire Healthcare; No. Adams, Mass.
• Notre Dame Long Term Care Center; Worcester, Mass.
• Oriol Health Care; Holden, Mass.
• Orleans Health Care; Orleans, MA
• Overlook Masonic Health Center; Charlton, Mass.
• Pine Grove; Pascoag, R.I.
• Pioneer Valley Cardiology; Springfield, Mass.
• Plumley valley health Services; Worcester, Mass.
• Primary Care Associates; Springfield, Mass.
• Primary Physician Partners; Worcester, Mass.
• Quality Kids Kare, PC; Worcester, Mass.
• Quinsigamond Community College Dept. of Nursing; Worcester, Mass
• Reliant Medical Group; Worcester, Mass.
• Rhode Island Hospital; Providence, R.I.
• Riverbend Medical Group; Agawam, Mass.
• Roger Williams Medical Center; Providence, R.I.
• Salmon VNA and Hospice; Milford, Mass.
• Sisters of Providence Health Systems; Springfield, Mass.
• Southcoast Hospitals Groups; New Bedford, Mass.
• South County Pediatrics; Webster, Mass.
• Southboro Medical Group; Southboro, Mass.
• Spaulding Rehab; Cambridge, Mass.
• St. Vincent’s Hospital; Worcester, Mass.
• Sterling Family Medicine; Sterling, Mass.
• Steward Carney Hospital; Dorchester, Mass.
• Steward Medical Group; Boston, Mass.
• Steward Norwood Hospital; Norwood, Mass.
• Sturdy Memorial Hospital; Attleboro, Mass.
• Sun Medical Clinic; Leominster, Mass.
• Teens and Tots Pediatrics; West Boylston, Mass.
• Tri-County Medical Associates; Franklin, Mass.
• Tri River Family Health Center; E. Uxbridge, Mass.
• Trinity Family Medicine; No. Easton, Mass.
• Tufts New England Medical Center; Boston, Mass.
• UMass Memorial Community Medical Group; Worcester, Mass.
• UMass Memorial Medical Center; Worcester, Mass.
• UMass Memorial – Clinton Hospital; Clinton, Mass.
• UMass Memorial – Marlboro Hospital; Marlboro, Mass.
• UMass at Amherst – Health Services; Amherst, Mass.
• VA Bedford; Bedford, Mass.
• VA Boston; Boston, Mass.
• VA Northampton and Leeds; Northampton, Mass.
• Vision Health Care – Functional Medicine Primary Care; Needham, Mass.
• VNA Care Hospice; Worcester, Mass.
• VNA Care Network; Worcester, Mass.
• Wentworth-Douglas Health System; Dover, N.H.
• Whittier Rehab Hospital; Westborough, Mass.
• Winchester Physician Associates; Winchester, Mass.
• Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Center; Palmer, Mass.
• Worcester Dermatology Associates; Worcester, Mass.
• Worcester Division of Public Health; Worcester, Mass.
• Worcester Internal Medicine; Worcester, Mass.
• Worcester Public Schools; Worcester, Mass.
• Worcester State University Student Health Services; Worcester, Mass.
• WPI Health Services; Worcester, Mass.
• Zhou MD; Shrewsbury, Mass.

• Joan M. Vitello-Cicciu, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAHA, FAAN; Dean & Professor, Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing
• Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP-C, FNP-BC, FAANP; Associate Dean for Advanced Practice Programs
• Priscilla Gazarian, PhD, CNS, RN, FAAN; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
• Jill M. Terrien, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, Associate Dean for Interprofessional & Community Partnerships

Contact the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Office of Student Affairs & Admissions:
Phone: 774-455-6689
Admissions E-mail: gsnadmissions@umassmed.edu
Student Affairs E-mail: gsnstudentaffairs@umassmed.edu

Contact the Financial Aid Office at 508-856-2265 with questions about financial aid. 

Contact the Bursars Office at 508-856-6641 with questions about tuition. 

The mission of UMass Chan Medical School is to advance the health and wellness of our diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery and public service.

The mission of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is to prepare nurses who embrace diversity and promote health equity to improve the quality of life and human health in the Commonwealth and beyond by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery and public service.

The vision of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is to create an equitable inclusive community of wellness, health, discovery and human dignity.

As the commonwealth's only public medical school, we take seriously our mission to serve the people of Massachusetts. We welcome the responsibilities we face in caring for their needs. We meet these challenges by providing clinical staff for public and private institutions, emphasizing training in the primary care specialties and encouraging graduates to practice in the state's underserved areas.

UMass Chan Medical School's educational mission stems from its founding in 1962 to provide affordable, high-quality medical education to qualified residents of the commonwealth. With that goal as its cornerstone, UMass Chan's educational mission has expanded to include residency and fellowship training, graduate education in nursing and the biomedical sciences, training in allied health professions, and continuing education for health care practitioners.

Our students are highly motivated, intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate. They volunteer to work with community organizations and are fully imbued with the school's commitment to public service. Our faculty have developed a curriculum designed to stimulate and support students in the acquisition of advanced knowledge and skills, while instilling compassionate attitudes and values so that they may best serve their patients.

In the area of research, UMass Chan has achieved world-class status. Research is conducted in the laboratory, ambulatory clinic and at the bedside, contributing significantly to medical science and to the state's economy, as well as enhancing our ability to attract outstanding faculty members for all three schools. Federal and private research grants and contracts at UMass Chan rose from about $2 million in 1977 to more than $322 million in FY 2023, making it one of the fastest growing research institutions in the United States. As our researchers continue to make discoveries and explore new avenues of inquiry, we continue to grow with exceptional principal investigators conducting clinical and basic research in such areas as cancer, molecular genetics, neurobiology, chemical biology and immunology.

In all that we do, we place the highest priority on respect for the dignity and diversity of the members of the Medical School community - patients, students, faculty, employees and volunteers. We are committed to supporting their professional, intellectual and emotional growth so they may have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and achieve their goals.

In the spirit of serving the public, we dedicate these pages to those who want to learn more about our innovative T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, and our centers, institutes and programs of national distinction. 

An introduction to UMass Chan Medical School

Welcome to UMass Chan Medical School, the commonwealth’s first and only public academic health sciences center.

Our mission is to advance the health and wellness of our diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, healthcare delivery and public service.

• UMass Medical School was founded in 1962 to provide affordable, high-quality medical education to state residents and to increase the number of primary care physicians practicing in underserved areas of the state.
• On Sept. 7, 2021, a $175 million donation from The Morningside Foundation to the Medical School was announced. The transformative gift, which is unrestricted, was intended to allow the Medical School to recruit renowned and innovative faculty; expand breakthrough biomedical research; offer financial support to highly qualified and diverse students; and be ever more expansive in fulfilling our public service mission. In recognition of the historic gift and of the deep commitment to education, research and healthcare by the Chan family of investors, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, UMass Medical School was renamed UMass Chan Medical School and its three graduate schools were renamed: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine; the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
• It is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the leading medical schools in the nation for primary care education.
• The research enterprise received approximately $300 million in federal and private research funding in fiscal year 2025.
• The institution is committed to enhancing health and science education, improving community health, building a diverse workforce and enriching lives through extensive community outreach.
• Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, UMass Chan Medical School is one of five University of Massachusetts campuses.

The three UMass Chan graduate schools are the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.

• The T.H. Chan School of Medicine is committed to training in the full range of medical disciplines, with an emphasis on practice in the primary care specialties, in the public sector and in underserved areas of Massachusetts.
• The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students receive a broad background in basic biomedical sciences and are trained in their selected specialty area in preparation for research careers with direct relevance to human disease.
• The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing offers master’s, post-master’s and doctoral degrees, providing high quality education to prepare registered professional and advanced practice nurses in nurse practitioner and nurse educator specialties and for leadership positions directly relevant to nursing, including education and research.

UMass Chan is a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research.

• In 2006 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to UMass Chan professor Craig C. Mello, PhD, and his colleague Andrew Fire, PhD, of Stanford University, for their discoveries related to RNA interference (RNAi), a cellular process that offers astounding potential for understanding and, ultimately treating, human disease.
• In 2024 Victor Ambros, PhD, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with his longtime collaborator Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Harvard University, for their discovery of microRNA, the uniquely short, single-stranded RNA molecules that are now understood to be instrumental in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Researchers have now identified more than 1,000 unique human microRNAs that are responsible for regulating more than half of all human genes.
• Our research programs are central to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, with major funding from the $1 billion Massachusetts Life Sciences Bill signed into law in 2008.
• Our researchers have made pivotal advances in HIV, cancer, ALS, diabetes and infectious diseases, and in understanding the molecular basis of disease.
• Programs and centers include the Horae Gene Therapy Center, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, the Translational Institute for Molecular Therapeutics, and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, as well as programs in neurotherapeutics, innate immunity and genome integrity.

We invite you to learn more about why UMass Chan Medical School is a great place to work and study.

A brief history of UMass Chan Medical School: 

A state-supported public medical school for Massachusetts was established by the commonwealth in July of 1962; the founding dean, Lamar Soutter, was appointed in December of 1963 and began the execution of a vision for an extraordinary medical school. “I think that if you're starting a medical school from scratch,” he said at the time, “you can say alright, let's get this science of medicine very firmly rooted in the students' minds—but then let's take them back to the bedside and make them much better practitioners and much more interested in taking care of human beings even though they are making full use of laboratory procedures and scientific advances.” 

Although the location in Worcester as a campus of the University of Massachusetts wasn’t selected until 1965, preliminary accreditation and the recruitment of core faculty during the construction process meant that the first class of 16 students entered in the fall of 1970, beginning their studies in a former warehouse at the corner of Lake Avenue and Belmont Street (a building still used today by UMass Chan Medical School). By the time the first class graduated in 1974, the new medical science building was in use, followed by the teaching hospital, which opened in 1976. The growth of the school and its clinical system coincided neatly with support for basic science research and while the school remained true to its mission of training primary care physicians, by 1979 it had established a PhD program in the biomedical sciences, which became a school in its own right, followed by the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, which opened in 1986.

A period of expansion began in 1990 with the appointment of Aaron Lazare, MD, as dean and, subsequently, chancellor, who would go on to become one of the longest-serving leaders of a medical school in the United States by the time he stepped down in 2007. With the acquisition of the former Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research and the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories and the spinoff of hospital operations into a new clinical system, the campus entered a period of unprecedented growth. A new research building opened in 2001 and the original medical school and hospital buildings were extensively renovated and expanded to include new meeting, educational, emergency and surgical spaces. Research funding grew for a time at a rate faster than any other academic health sciences center in the country, fueled by recruitment of basic science faculty drawn to the institution's prominence in several fields, including gene function and expression, gene development, biochemistry, and molecular medicine. In 2006, UMass Chan professor Craig C. Mello, PhD, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, shared with Stanford researcher Andrew Fire, PhD, for their discovery of the mechanism of gene silencing by double-stranded RNA, which they termed ‘RNA interference.’ 

The Nobel Prize in 2006 drew attention and support to UMass Chan Medical School throughout the commonwealth; the University of Massachusetts created a Life Sciences Task Force that proposed a series of strategic investments in biomedical sciences education, research and infrastructure across the five campuses; many of these recommendations were mirrored in the commonwealth’s own Life Sciences Initiative, a ten-year, billion-dollar plan for investment. The Life Sciences Task Force was chaired by Michael F. Collins, MD, at the time interim chancellor at UMass Chan Medical School and senior vice president for the health sciences at the University.

Along with Terence R. Flotte, MD, a seminal figure in the field of gene therapy, who became the sixth dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine in 2007, Collins, named chancellor in 2007, has overseen a remarkable phase in campus development and investment, including the expansion of the medical school class size to 225 students; investment in educational technology and infrastructure, and expansion in clinical and translational science, which began with the establishment of a PhD program in Clinical and Population Health in 2005; the creation of the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (now Population & Quantitative Health Sciences) in 2009; and the receipt of an NIH Clinical and Translational Award in 2010 that has been successfully renewed every five years since.

Four major facilities investments on the UMass Chan Medical School campus have laid the groundwork for the next generation of life sciences education and research.

• In 2010, the 278,000 square-foot Ambulatory Care Center opened and houses the Centers of Excellence in Diabetes, Cardiovascular Medicine, Orthopedics and Cancer; the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science; and specialty clinics for rare diseases.
• In 2013, the 500,000 square foot Albert Sherman Center opened and houses state of the art facilities for medical education, including the student learning communities; the standardized patient program; dedicated seminar and conference space; and six floors of wet and dry laboratory space for new research initiatives in pathology, population and quantitative health, RNA biology, microbiology and diabetes.
• In 2021, a state-of-the-art, community-based outpatient clinic for veterans from Central and Western Massachusetts opened and features 65 exam, consultation and procedure rooms designed for patient-aligned care teams across 53,000 square feet of the 100,000 square-foot building. Location of this facility on the Medical School campus provides opportunities for students to have clinical experiences with the unique population of patients served.
• In 2024, the Paul J. DiMare Center, a nine-story, 350,000-square-foot research building that achieved LEED Gold certification for energy efficiency and sustainability, opened with room to house 70 principal investigators focused on neurology, neurobiology, neuroscience, psychiatry, molecular medicine and gene therapy.

In September 2021, Chancellor Collins announced a history-making gift of $175 million from The Morningside Foundation to the Medical School. Calling the gift a “powerful statement about the stature—and the potential—of our medical school,” Collins said the confidence it conveys about the Medical School is breathtaking, “permitting us to recruit renowned and innovative faculty, conduct more breakthrough biomedical research, offer financial support to highly qualified and diverse students; and be ever more expansive in fulfilling our public service mission.” The Morningside Foundation said in a statement that, “The Morningside Foundation and the Chan family are proud to honor their patriarch and matriarch’s legacy and their deep commitment to the advancement of health and education. There is a powerful alchemy and very special culture at UMass Medical School in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

By the time Collins stepped down his role as chancellor in 2026, he was the longest serving chancellor in UMass history.

David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA, the Richard M. Haidack Professor in Medicine, chair and professor of medicine, renowned clinical and research cardiologist, and expert in digital medicine, was named incoming chancellor of UMass Chan in 2026, succeeding Collins. He is the first alum to assume leadership of the institution.

UMass Chan Medical School milestones

1962: Legislation establishes University of Massachusetts Medical School
1970: First medical students begin classes in Shaw Building
1974: First class graduates 16 MDs
1979: PhD program begins
1986: Graduate School of Nursing opens
1986: PhD program becomes Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
1994: Graduate School of Nursing initiates PhD program
1998: UMass Clinical System and Memorial Health Care merge to form UMass Memorial Health
2001: Lazare Research Building opens
2002: Campus Modernization begins on the University Campus
2004: Graduate Entry Pathway Program established at the Graduate School of Nursing
2005: PhD Program in Clinical & Population Health Research established at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
2005: Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories opens new manufacturing and filling facility in Mattapan
2006: Craig Mello, PhD, the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of RNA therapeutics, is awarded the Medical School's first Nobel Prize. Dr. Mello shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Fire, PhD, of Stanford University, for their discoveries related to RNA interference.
2007: Michael F. Collins, MD, is named chancellor, and Terence R. Flotte, MD, is named dean of the School of Medicine. 
2010: Ambulatory Care Center opens
2013: Albert Sherman Center opens
2015: First regional campus, UMass Chan-Baystate, is established with Baystate Health in Springfield  
2021: VA building opens
2021: With a transformational gift from The Morningside Foundation, UMass Medical School is renamed UMass Chan Medical School
2023: Second regional campus, UMass Chan-Lahey, is established with Lahey Clinic, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health  
2024: Paul J. DiMare Center opens
2024: Victor Ambros, PhD, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine, is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with his longtime collaborator Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Harvard University, for their discovery of microRNA, the uniquely short, single-stranded RNA molecules that are now understood to be instrumental in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
2026: David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA, named chancellor

Information about the University of Massachusetts Trustees may be obtained at the following link:

https://www.umassp.edu/bot/members

Financial information pertaining to the University of Massachusetts is available at:

https://www.umassp.edu/controller/reports