Portrait Unveiling Honors President Emerita Paula Milone-Nuzzo's Legacy

YuMan (Gracie) Ng

Date

October 1, 2026

Topics

University community celebrates former president’s leadership and nine years of growth and service

Nine years after President Emerita Paula Milone-Nuzzo arrived to lead the MGH Institute of Health Professions, the University gathered to honor her with the unveiling of her presidential portrait. Last Thursday’s ceremony in 1CW reflected a tenure that expanded the institution’s academic and research reach, strengthened its relationship with Mass General Brigham, and carried the University through some of the most consequential years in its history.

The portrait will hang alongside those of previous University presidents, placing Milone-Nuzzo within a leadership tradition that now extends into a new era. The unveiling came shortly after the transition from the MGH Institute of Health Professions to Mass General Brigham University of Health Professions and only months after Milone-Nuzzo passed the presidential baton to Deborah Jones.

Board of Trustees Chair Jeanette Ives Erickson reflected on the growth that took place during Milone-Nuzzo’s presidency.

“The unveiling of this portrait is a big moment,” Ives Erickson said. “Paula brought this university from world class; she elevated it even more. New programs, lots of new hires, but more importantly, thousands of new graduates.”

President Deborah Jones reflected on what the portrait itself represents. Future students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors will pass it without necessarily knowing the decisions or challenges that shaped Milone-Nuzzo’s presidency.

“A hanging of a portrait — it’s a tradition, but it’s more than that. It’s more than placing a painting on the wall,” Jones said. “It asks us to take a pause to remember. To remember the leadership, to remember the service, to remember the humility that helped shape this institution.”

Jones traced that legacy back to 2017, when Milone-Nuzzo came from Penn State to lead what was then the MGH Institute of Health Professions. What distinguished the school, Jones said, was its position as a health professions school closely connected to education, patient care, and a major health care system.

Milone-Nuzzo saw the importance of that connection early and made strengthening it a priority.

“She understood very early that that relationship mattered,” Jones said. “She knocked on doors, and she made sure everyone else understood that too.”

women standing next to a podium in front of a room of people — Dozens crowded Presidents Hall in 1 CW Thursday to pay tribute to President Emerita Paula Milone-Nuzzo, whose portrait was unveiled.

two women standing at a podium in front of portraits — Paula Milone-Nuzzo listened as Board of Trustees Chair Jeanette Ives Erickson spoke about the portrait unveiling.

two women about to embrace — Paula Milone-Nuzzo embraces President Deborah Jones after her kind words about Milone-Nuzzo's legacy as President.

President Jones and President Emerita Paula Milone-Nuzzo at unveiling of her portrait — President Deborah Jones gestures to President Emerita Paula Milone-Nuzzo as she told the audience of all that was accomplished during her predecessor’s tenure.

woman standing with flowers next to man behind podium — Former Chief of Operations, Dennis Stratford, shared a few words and a bouquet for his longtime colleague, Paula Milone-Nuzzo.

woman looking at portrait of herself — Paula Milone-Nuzzo admiring her portrait in the Presidents Hall.

Over the years that followed, Milone-Nuzzo worked to make the Institute’s role within Mass General Brigham more visible. She advocated for what health professions education could contribute to the system and for closer connections among teaching, research, clinical practice, and patient care.

“So much of the road that I am now able to travel with Mass General Brigham is the road Paula helped pave,” Jones said.

The institution changed considerably during those nine years. Its research portfolio expanded, new academic programs were introduced, including the first undergraduate degree, and clinical partnerships grew. The school also established new centers of excellence, created additional tuition opportunities for Mass General Brigham employees and their families, and reached record enrollment.

But Jones drew a distinction between what changed at the institution and how those changes were led.

“Paula’s legacy also is not about what was built; it’s about how she led,” Jones said.

Milone-Nuzzo led the Institute through the COVID-19 pandemic, financially lean years, and difficult decisions. Jones described her as someone who approached those moments not only as a president, but also as a nurse, educator, scholar, and mentor.

“If you were to ask Paula what mattered most,” Jones said, “she would say people.”

That included students, faculty, staff, alumni, patients, colleagues, and community partners.

“She opened doors. She lifted up others, and she believed in people, and she believed in this institution and what this institution could become,” Jones said. “So that, too, is a part of her legacy — not only a stronger institution, but a community that knows how to hold each other together through difficult times.”

That history has particular relevance now.

Last month, the institution became Mass General Brigham University of Health Professions, bringing the connection Milone-Nuzzo worked to strengthen directly into the University’s name. Jones emphasized that the change was years in the making.

“That new name didn’t start with me,” Jones said. “That new name rests on the work that was done over many years, and Paula was instrumental in positioning this institution for the chapter that we are now entering.”

When Milone-Nuzzo took the podium, she shifted the focus away from her own accomplishments and toward the people who shared those nine years with her.

“I loved being your president,” Milone-Nuzzo said. “I absolutely loved being able to help each and every one of you in a sometimes small and insignificant way, or in a much bigger and more profound way. But the opportunity to give to each one of you was a gift for me.”

Turning to the faculty, she thanked them for their commitment to students and for helping prepare the next generation of health professionals.

She also recognized the staff, whose contributions, she noted, are often less visible even though they make the work of the University possible.

Milone-Nuzzo thanked the students who chose to pursue their education at the University, as well as the Board of Trustees for supporting the institution’s growth and innovation. She also thanked Ives Erickson for her leadership on the board.

Her remarks eventually turned to Jones and the transition between the two presidents.

“It was hard giving over the baton to you, but I am so excited that you are the one who has the baton,” Milone-Nuzzo told Jones. “Your graciousness, your support, your love of this organization is palpable, and I thank you for that.”

The celebration then moved beyond Milone-Nuzzo’s work inside the University.

Representatives from Harvard-Kent Elementary School presented her with a special gift recognizing the relationship between the Charlestown school and the University.

“Harvard-Kent has a special place in my heart because when I came here, it was a relationship that had very little notoriety and very little visibility,” Milone-Nuzzo said. “And we decided that we were going to make it visible.”

She recalled efforts to strengthen the partnership and bring greater attention to the work taking place between the two institutions, one of several relationships she fostered during her presidency.

Jones returned to the meaning of the portrait as she considered the people who will pass it in the years ahead. They may not know Milone-Nuzzo personally or remember the challenges the University faced during her presidency, but they will inherit an institution shaped by those years.

“Thank you for the grace in handing over the baton, because that is not always easy,” Jones said. “You’re not going anywhere. You are still going to be on speed dial.”

For a university beginning a new chapter under a new name and new president, the unveiling recognized both the leadership that helped bring it to this point and the continuity between what came before and what comes next.

“We know that the people who come after us live inside the choices that were made by those who came before,” Jones said. “I am grateful to be coming after you.”

Along with flowers, Milone-Nuzzo was also given a book filled with photos and goodbye/thank you notes written by from faculty and staff.