Jane Meza, PhD, named associate vice chancellor for academic affairs

Jane Meza, PhD, has been named the new associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, effective July 1.

Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said he was excited for Dr. Meza to take on the new role. Dr. Meza was selected following an internal search.

“Dr. Meza has shown time and again at UNMC that she is an innovative and thoughtful leader,” Dr. Davies said. “It became apparent as we looked to fill this important position that her leadership skills and commitment would make her the perfect addition to the academic affairs leadership team, someone who will be invaluable to our talented faculty and staff as they work to engage and instruct our students.”

Dr. Meza will continue as the associate vice chancellor for global affairs and strategic planning. Her role as the interim executive director for health security was created as part of the UNMC response to COVID and will lapse following the expiration of the federal COVID public health emergency on May 11.

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, congratulated Dr. Meza on her new role.

“Dr. Meza has long been a highly respected member of UNMC, as a scientist in her own right but also in several leadership roles, including her integral leadership during the COVID pandemic and strategic planning,” he said. “In joining the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, she can bring her insight and vision to UNMC’s educational mission, further strengthening our commitment as an academic medical center to prepare our graduates to make an impact on the health and wellness of the communities that we serve in Nebraska and beyond.”

Dr. Meza said she was honored to be chosen to serve as the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“I am looking forward to working with our exceptional UNMC colleagues to continue the mission of academic affairs to lead the world in the creation of enriching learning experiences for students and trainees and cultivate ongoing professional growth for UNMC,” she said.

At UNMC, Dr. Meza has served as co-director of the Biostatistics Shared Resource for the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Dr. Meza served as chair of the UNMC Department of Biostatistics from 2010 to 2017 and senior associate dean of the UNMC College of Public Health from 2014 to 2018.

Dr. Meza has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications. Her methodological research focuses on statistical issues related to clinical trials and small-area estimation. These methods have been extended to disease mapping applications and combining national and state data to estimate the probability of a rare event. The interdisciplinary nature of Dr. Meza’s work has resulted in research in a wide variety of public health-related topics, including rhabdomyosarcoma, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, lymphoma, smoking, COPD, health insurance and medication errors.

Dr. Davies extended his thanks to Gary Yee, PharmD, who has served as the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the past four years.

“Dr. Yee has been invaluable to academic affairs,” Dr. Davies said. “His leadership and assistance will be missed, but we wish him well as he continues in his faculty role at UNMC.”