Dr. Michael M.E. Johns, a Medical School graduate and former chancellor of Emory University, will serve as the university’s interim executive vice president for medical affairs starting June 2.
His appointment was approved Thursday by the Board of Regents. He also will serve as the interim chief executive officer of the Health System.
Johns, a professor of otolaryngology and professor of health policy at Emory, begins his appointment June 2. He succeeds Dr. Ora Pescovitz, who is stepping down at the end of her five-year term June 1.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to come back and serve the institution that has shaped me and my career so much,” Johns said. “I look forward to meeting with faculty, students and staff and learning about their priorities for the coming months.”
As a former executive vice president for health affairs, Johns served as Emory University’s fifth chancellor from 2007-12 and led the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center from 1996-2007. The center includes Emory Healthcare, the schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, as well as the Yerkes Primate Center.
During his tenure as executive vice president for health affairs, Johns led a comprehensive strategy that positioned the Woodruff Health Sciences Center as one of the nation’s pre-eminent academic health centers in education, research and patient care.
“In addition to leading complex administrative and academic organizations to new levels of excellence and service, Dr. Johns is widely renowned as a catalyst of new thinking in many areas of health policy and health professions education,” said President Mary Sue Coleman in recommending Johns for the interim appointment. “I look forward to the leadership, depth of experience and vision he will bring to the university.”
From 1990 to 1996, Johns was dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and vice president of the medical faculty at Johns Hopkins University. Under his leadership, the school revamped its curriculum to better meet the challenges of a new era in health care, and developed a technology transfer program that was considered a model in the country.
Johns was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1993, serving on several committees and as vice chair of the IOM council. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association and most recently became a member of the Advisory Council to the Congressional Task Force on Biomedical Research and Innovation.
He serves on several boards and was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense as a member of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Board of Regents in 2008.
A native of Detroit, Johns received his bachelor’s degree and continued with graduate studies in biology at Wayne State University, and graduated with distinction from the U-M Medical School, where he also completed his internship and residency. Johns has been married for 47 years to his wife, Trina. The couple has two children, Christina and Mike, both of whom are physicians.
Johns’ interim appointment will conclude upon the appointment of a new EVPMA, which is anticipated to occur in early 2015. He is not interested in being a candidate for the EVPMA position.
