Improving the Quality of Life for Others
A bachelor's or master's degree from any of the eight departments in the College of Health & Human Development tells the world you have had important learning experiences, know the value of community service, have earned a solid education, and are ready to meet your aspirations to improve the quality of life for others. The coming year promises to be enriching and enlivening for students and faculty in the college.
Please take some time to explore our college via our website, and contact the departments you're interested in through their sites. Please let us know if we can help you further.
Thank you for your interest!
Helen M. Castillo, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean, College of Health & Human Development
Send an Email to Dean Castillo
Dear Students and Friends of the College:
I would like to know more about you and your experience as a student in the College of Health & Human Development. I would also like to hear from our friends and contacts who may share a special story or who may have questions, ideas or comments of benefit to us all. Please feel free to email me.
Biography
Helen M. Castillo is Dean of the College of Health & Human Development at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
Dr. Castillo has over 25 years of experience in higher education, hospital administration and professional nursing. Prior to coming to CSUN, she was dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at the University of Texas-Pan American since 1998. While at Texas, Pan Am, Dr. Castillo's fundraising efforts included obtaining funds for an endowed chair in nursing and an endowed program in pediatrics.
Prior to serving as dean at Pan Am, she taught at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1976 to 1998, chairing the nursing department during her last five years there. While in El Paso, she also served as director of staff education and director of nursing services at Providence Memorial Hospital.
While at the University of Texas-Pan American, Dr. Castillo also worked to institute three collaborative programs into her university from other institutions, including an occupational therapy program with the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, a physician assistant studies program with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and a pharmacy doctorate with the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Castillo earned her RN at St. Vincent's College of Nursing in Los Angeles, her bachelor's in nursing from the University of Texas System School of Nursing, and a master's in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.
She earned her PhD in curriculum and instruction from New Mexico State University. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Perceptions of Mexican American and Anglo American Baccalaureate Nursing Students Toward an Ideal Leadership Style." Among her research projects have been two studies on the impact of NAFTA on health care in Mexico, Chile, and the United States. The study was funded by the Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade and the University of Texas at El Paso.
Helen Castillo also has extensive experience in professional and community service, including work on state agencies for the setting of standards for nursing accreditation reviews for graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. She has served as a legal consultant and expert witness in court proceedings and serves on numerous state and national boards. She is married and has three grown children.
She has been at CSUN since March, 2002.