Dr. Carla Hagen has served as Director of the UAA School of Nursing since October 2020. Dr. Hagen has practiced as a nurse for over 25 years, having completed her undergraduate and graduate nursing education at Oregon Health & Science University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies and a Master’s degree in Public Health. Prior to her nursing career, Dr. Hagen spent five years involved in cultural and linguistic work in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Hagen’s practice background has included home health nursing, maternal child nursing, mental health nursing, gerontologic nursing research, global health, and nursing administration. She has spent the last 16 years in nursing education. Previously, Dr. Hagen was as a faculty member and the Director of the School of Nursing at George Fox University for seven years. She then returned to her alma mater from 2013 to 2020 as an Associate Dean at Oregon Health & Science University, School of Nursing.

Her greatest passion in nursing education and nursing administration has been to build strong teams, which in turn can provide a positive learning environment for nursing students — allowing them to gain the knowledge, skills, and attributes to be competent and caring nurses wherever they choose to serve. Dr. Hagen was drawn to UAA’s School of Nursing both because of the great need for nursing across the state of Alaska, and the opportunity to provide nursing education to diverse populations and communities.