The UConn Board of Trustees is expected this month to vote on a resolution that would rename one of its most in-demand schools in honor of an alumna whose generosity is helping cultivate the nation’s next generation of highly skilled nursing professionals.

The Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing would become the second UConn school or college renamed for a philanthropic alum, honoring the woman whose foresight is helping the school raise its profile and expand its enrollment to meet soaring demand.

The board’s Institutional Advancement Committee on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed the proposal to name the school in honor of DeLuca, recommending the designation to the full board for a vote on a resolution at its Sept. 17 meeting.

The IA Committee also endorsed a proposal to adopt the name DeLuca Hall for the new School of Nursing building under construction on Bolton Road. UConn broke ground on construction last fall and expects to open it in fall 2026.

The 92,000-square-foot building will feature instructional spaces, a lecture hall, flexible classrooms, a nursing simulation learning center, a nursing research center, makerspace for collaborative learning, and a Center for Student Success with advising, study, and resources spaces.

It is funded in part by DeLuca’s $50 million gift to the university, the largest that UConn has received in its history for any purpose. The building also will be supported with $30 million in state funds and additional philanthropy being welcomed from other alumni and supporters, including through naming opportunities.

“Elisabeth DeLuca is an exceptional alumna with a grand vision for both UConn and the School of Nursing. Her bold entrepreneurial spirit drives her to reimagine the nursing school and attract more students to the University of Connecticut,” President Radenka Maric says.

“Her gift lies in her ability to transform the university landscape, which is vital in bridging the gap between technology and humanity in nursing,” Maric adds. “This transformation is crucial for enhancing patient care by boosting efficiency, improving accuracy, and fostering better communication, all while nurturing empathy and a deeper understanding of patient needs. I am deeply appreciative of Liz for her remarkable gift, which has the potential to positively influence the lives of countless nurses and the patients they serve for generations to come.”

About $20 million of DeLuca’s gift will help fund the new building’s construction, along with about $5 million supporting its equipment needs. The other $25 million will support student scholarships and programming for patient-centered practice, interdisciplinary research, and technology-based innovations.

“Elisabeth DeLuca’s generosity will leave a lasting mark on the nursing profession,” says UConn School of Nursing Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson. “Naming the School of Nursing in her honor reflects her vision, compassion, and unwavering belief in the power of nurses to transform health care.”

Inspired by her mother’s guidance, DeLuca graduated with her nursing degree from UConn in 1969 and worked for many years in the field.

As her husband’s business grew over the next several years, she joined him in running what would ultimately become a global restaurant chain. Today, she serves as President of the Elisabeth C. DeLuca Foundation and the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, which are focused on access to education and health.

Her nursing experience instilled in her a lifelong appreciation for both the professionalism and compassion that nurses provide.

That lasting affection for the field is evident in her support of the School of Nursing – as is the importance of her mother’s early influence, which will be reflected in the naming of the new building’s first-floor lecture hall as Adomat Hall in her mother’s honor.

The Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing would become the second UConn academic unit to honor an alum in its name. The first was the Neag School of Education, designated as such in 1999 based on a generous gift from Raymond Neag ’56 (CLAS) and Carole Neag.

UConn became the state’s first public institution to offer a nursing degree program when the School of Nursing opened in 1942, and it now has about 900 students annually. It is among the most high-demand programs at UConn, reflecting students’ growing interest in nursing careers amid an increasing demand for skilled health care professionals nationwide.

UConn received almost 3,900 applications in 2024 for its 225 first-year spots in the school, and the number jumped again this year: More than 4,700, about double the number of applications it received as recently as 2021.

UConn nursing students also tend to have consistently strong post-graduation career outcomes, with some of the highest starting salaries of all majors in the first six months after graduation.