UNMC has announced five finalists for the role of vice chancellor for business, finance and business development.
The finalists will be in Omaha this month for interviews with select campus groups and a 45-minute campus forum that allows interested faculty, staff and students to hear from each of the candidates and pose questions.
"We had a deep and outstanding group of applicants for this critical campus position, and the five finalists stood out for the diversity of experiences, backgrounds and richness of skills they possess that would be of immense value to UNMC," said Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies, who led the 15-member search committee. "I would like to thank all members of the search committee for their commitment and dedication in screening and interviewing the multiple candidates and helping get us to this final slate."
In the order of their visits to campus, the candidates are:
- Bryson Palmer, assistant vice president of operations for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (member of RWJ Barnabas Health System), who will visit campus on Thursday, March 10. He oversees enterprise-wide operational functions of more than 250 employees, including protective services, real estate and environmental services, and serves as the hospital safety officer. He also oversees a $150 million capital investment project, "Newark Strong," intended to transform the hospital campus and spark economic development in the greater Newark community.
- Anne Barnes, senior associate dean for administration and finance at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, who will visit Monday, March 14. Over the past 25 years, she has served as the principal business officer for the College of Medicine and more recently also served as the chief administrative officer for OU Physicians, the physician faculty practice plan.
- Susan Kraft Mann, interim vice chancellor for business, finance and business development and assistant vice chancellor and director of the office of budget and fiscal analysis at UNMC, who will visit Tuesday, March 22. In her interim role, Kraft Mann oversees finance, facilities, human resources, business development, healing arts, auxiliary services and public safety. As assistant vice chancellor and director, her responsibilities include the annual budget, biennial budget request and campus-wide financial statement reviews.
- David McCaskill, former chief financial officer of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, who will visit Wednesday, March 23. In that role, McCaskill was responsible for all aspects of financial management, human capital management, contracting and served on the organization’s Board of Directors. Earlier, he served as chief financial officer and director of business operation for Womack Army Medical Center. He is a 26-year Army veteran with more than 22 years of experience specializing in finance, strategic planning, change management, health network optimization and program management.
- Mike Ebbs, associate vice chancellor of finance at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, who will visit Tuesday, March 29. He joined UTHSC in 2015, oversees a budget of $600 million and is responsible for the university’s critical budget and financial operations. He also works with campus leaders to execute the university’s strategic plan and enhance the academic, clinical, research and service missions. Previously, he served as the chief financial officer for the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
During each candidates's campus visit, the candidate will participate in a 45-minute open campus presentation, in which the candidate will make an introduction to the UNMC community and answer questions from participants. Each forum will be from noon to 12:45 p.m. On the day of each visit, a Zoom link will be added to this intranet page.
Candidate bios and the dates for their campus presentations can be found on the intranet page. The campus community will be invited to provide feedback via the confidential survey form that will be added to the search website as candidates are introduced to the UNMC community.
The vice chancellor for business, finance and business development position was previously held by Doug Ewald, who stepped down last fall to serve as executive associate athletic director/chief financial officer for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s athletic department.