July 1 is always a time of transition in academic medical centers. But that is particularly true this year, as our UNMC Chancellor and Nebraska Medicine Board Chair for the last 10 years, Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, transitions to his new role as president of our university system.
Through Dr. Gold’s vision, leadership and support, much has been accomplished at UNMC and in the College of Medicine over his tenure, including weathering a historic pandemic. On behalf of the college, I want to thank and congratulate Dr. Gold for his 10 years as UNMC chancellor. We look forward to working with him and his continued leadership in his new role.
With his departure from UNMC, Dr. Gold named Dr. Dele Davies as interim chancellor. This was a wise and natural choice. Dr. Davies has been very successful in his 12 years as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies. Dr. Davies knows the NU system governance structure well and also is very familiar with each of the UNMC colleges, as each of the colleges has directly reported to him since 2017, when Dr. Gold began serving as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a role he held until 2021, as well as UNMC. I have worked closely and very successfully with Dr. Davies on many difficult issues since his arrival at UNMC. I look forward to doing the same in his new role as interim chancellor, as we await additional information from Dr. Gold and the Board of Regents about the future organizational structure of the NU system.
We are also in the process of identifying several new leaders in the UNMC College of Medicine. Searches currently are or soon will be underway to fill chairs in four clinical departments – anesthesiology, radiology, obstetrics and gynecology and dermatology. The first two are the farthest along, and we expect first round confidential Zoom interviews to take place beginning some time in August.
In addition, we are moving forward rapidly with identifying the initial associate dean for the planned regional campus in Kearney. Hopefully, that individual will be announced by the end of summer.
I also recently announced the search for the position of associate dean for faculty affairs in the college. This is not an additional associate dean position but represents a restructuring of the college’s administrative structure and addition of new roles to the position that has come open with Dr. Kelly Caverzagie’s upcoming departure to the University of Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). A reminder: Applications for consideration for this position are due to me Friday, July 19.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Caverzagie on his appointment as senior associate dean for education at OHSU and, most importantly, to thank him for his many years of leadership in the dean’s office and at Nebraska Medicine. He has contributed to the success of the college in so many ways over his time here, space does not allow me to mention them. He took on a myriad of tasks and did them exceptionally well, and he was integral to coordinating our response to the pandemic. We wish him bon voyage and great success in his new role.
Let me close by welcoming our new residents and fellows. For those who completed their most recent phase of training at UNMC, welcome back. We are thrilled to have you continuing your training with us. For those who are new to UNMC and Nebraska Medicine or Children’s Nebraska, welcome, as well. We are excited to have you join us.
In closing, I wish you all a slightly belated happy 4th of July. I hope that you were each able to enjoy the celebration of our country’s founding. For those who were providing clinical care over the holiday, thank you for your dedication to our patients and community.
Have a great rest of the summer.