Pictured (l to r) are: First Citizen Bank's Phillip Strickland (Senior Vice President / Senior Director of Institutional Trust) and Bill Norris (Area Vice President / Cape Fear Area), Methodist University Provost Suzanne Blum Malley, and First Citizen Bank's Tim Richardson (Senior Vice President / Manager of Commercial Banking) and Hank Dunbar (Senior Vice President / Charitable & Philanthropic Services).

Methodist University is grateful to the Robert P. Holding Foundation for its recent $25,000 donation to the University’s Nursing program.

Methodist University is grateful to the Robert P. Holding Foundation for its recent $25,000 donation to the University’s Nursing program. MU Nursing has offered a prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program since 2010 and has expanded to offer an online RN-to-BSN degree, an online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program, and online Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education (CNE) program.

Graduates from these programs are equipped with the academic, clinical, and leadership skills needed in facilities throughout the state of North Carolina. MU Nursing graduates are typically hired quickly at health facilities in Eastern North Carolina, although a significant number relocate to jobs across the state.

The Robert P. Holding Foundation is named for Robert Powell Holding Sr., who served as president and chairman of the First Citizens Bank in Smithfield, N.C., (1935-57). The Robert P. Holding Foundation was incorporated in Smithfield in 1955 and has since contributed millions of dollars to support health care and higher education in North Carolina’s rural and urban communities. MU is proud to partner with the Robert P. Holding Foundation to ensure North Carolina residents have access to essential health care and higher education opportunities.


Pictured (l to r) are: First Citizen Bank’s Phillip Strickland (Senior Vice President / Senior Director of Institutional Trust) and Bill Norris (Area Vice President / Cape Fear Area), Methodist University Provost Suzanne Blum Malley, and First Citizen Bank’s Tim Richardson (Senior Vice President / Manager of Commercial Banking) and Hank Dunbar (Senior Vice President / Charitable & Philanthropic Services).