President Mary Sue Coleman has appointed a committee to assist and advise her in conducting a national search for a new executive vice president for medical affairs.
Dr. Robert Kelch, who has served in the position since Sept. 15, 2003, will retire on Sept. 14, 2009. As chief executive officer of the U-M Health System (UMHS), Kelch oversees the Medical School, the University’s Hospitals and Health Centers, and the School of Nursing.
Together, these three entities account for approximately half of the University’s budget and more than half of its faculty and staff, as well as more than 40 percent of its annual research expenditures and a large portion of its Ann Arbor campus. The U-M Hospitals and Health Centers and the Medical School consistently rank among the best in the country and are noted for excellence in a broad range of clinical and research specialties. In all, more than 3,000 medical students, nursing students, medical residents, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are in training at the Health System.
Coleman’s charge to the committee includes identifying and recruiting a pool of highly qualified candidates, conducting preliminary interviews and recommending finalists to the president.
Provost and Executive Vice President Teresa Sullivan, who also is a professor of sociology, will chair the search advisory committee.
Members of the search committee are:
• Carol Chenoweth, professor of internal medicine, Medical School, and clinical professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health;
• T. Anthony Denton, chief operating officer and senior associate director, UHHC;
• Eric Fearon, associate director for basic science, Comprehensive Cancer Center; the Emanuel N. Maisel professor of oncology, professor of internal medicine, professor of human genetics and professor of pathology, Medical School;
• Michael Finney, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK;
• Sonya Jacobs, organizational effectiveness consultant, UMHS Human Resources;
• Jerry May, vice president for development;
• Michael Mulholland, chair and professor of surgery, general surgery, and the Frederick A. Coller Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Medical School;
• Kathleen Potempa, dean and professor of nursing, School of Nursing;
• Pamela Raymond, the Stephen S. Easter Collegiate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, LSA;
• Stefanie Simmons, fourth-year house officer, emergency medicine, U-M Hospitals;
• Charles B. Smith, chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, and professor of pharmacology, School of Medicine;
• Robert Todd, interim chair and professor of internal medicine and the Frances and Victor Ginsberg Professor of Hematology and Oncology, internal medicine, Medical School.
The executive search firm is represented by Karen Otto, senior vice president of Witt-Kieffer.
During Kelch’s tenure, the Health System has experienced unprecedented physical expansion, with the opening of the Biomedical Science Research Building and the Cardiovascular Center clinical building, and the growth of the East Medical Campus, including the Rachel Upjohn Building and the Ambulatory Surgery and Medical Procedures Center. He and members of the Health System leadership team have paved the way for future growth, including the new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital, and an expansion of the Kellogg Eye Center that also will house the Brehm Center for Type I Diabetes Research & Analysis. A master plan and strategic direction, which was prepared in 2005 and is being updated, will guide the Health System’s development in Ann Arbor and expansion in southeast Michigan through satellite locations and partnerships.
Under Kelch’s leadership, the Health System has attracted numerous major gifts, including a $50 million gift for the Cardiovascular Center, $44 million from William and Delores Brehm for diabetes research, $25 million from the C.S. Mott Foundation for the new children’s and women’s hospital, $22 million from A. Alfred Taubman and $10 million from the late Mary and Edwin Meader for the Depression Center. These gifts and many others have strengthened the Health System’s ability to expand its facilities and develop new programs and initiatives.
Suggestions and nominations for the EVPMA can be sent to the committee through Lisa Connolly in care of the Office of the President, University of Michigan 2074 Fleming Administration Building, 503 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Information regarding the search will be posted at www.umich.edu/pres/committees/evpma.html.
