Cape Fear Community College recently received the largest naming donation in the college’s 65-year history. 

On Thursday, CFCC announced Dan Saklad has pledged to give the WIlmington-based school $3 million. The donation will be used to name the school’s building on 319 N. Front Street, which will be known as the Dan and Sheila Saklad Health and Human Services Center. 

“This investment further strengthens our regional healthcare workforce, a profession near and dear to Sheila and my family,” said Dan Saklad in the release. “I hope that this contribution empowers future healthcare professionals and makes a lasting impact on the health and well-being of our community.”

The late Sheila Saklad was a third-generation nurse, according to a Novant Health Foundation article. After Sheila died in 2020, Dan Saklad began donating to nursing programs through the Dan and Sheila Saklad Foundation. 

In 2021, Saklad gave $400,000 to CFCC and Novant New Hanover Regional Medical Center to fund the Sheila M. Saklad Accelerated Nursing Fellowship at the college and the Upward Mobility RN Scholarship for Novant NHRMC employees attending CFCC. 

Part of the Dan and Sheila Saklad Health and Human Services Center opened Jan. 5 after crews finished Phase I of its construction. Phase II will include a new dental clinic, simulation areas, faculty offices, additional dental assistant and hygienist program space and nursing classrooms, according to CFCC officials. 

CFCC’s nursing program also received about $10 million from the New Hanover Community Endowment in December.

The second largest naming donation to the college was by Allan and Laura Wilson in 2016. The $1.5 million donation turned CFCC’s Fine Arts and Humanities Center into the Wilson Center.