I’ll get right to the point: As many of you know, I have accepted an offer to become Dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
This was not an easy decision. I’ve spent nearly 22 years of my career at the IU School of Medicine, 22 years as a part of this community and this city, raising a family here. (And it may seem like a cliché, but this really is a great place to raise a family.)
When I started here in August 1992, the IU School of Medicine was a much different place — it was smaller, but the growth of the campus, and the research mission, were in the early stages of liftoff: the Medical Research and Ruth Lilly Library Building was the newest on campus and the Wells Center and the Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Center had only recently been established.
Since then we’ve seen dizzying growth: Construction of the Indiana Cancer Pavilion and the Cancer Research Institute (we all just say “R4″). Then the BRTC, the HITS building, Fairbanks Hall, Walther Hall, Van Nuys Medical Science renovations, the Glick, the Neuroscience Research Building and more.
But it hasn’t been just infrastructure — we’ve seen a phenomenal increase in the breadth and depth of science at the school. Not to mention the money that funds it, even with the recent tightening at the NIH. When I arrived, IUSM received about $32 million in NIH awards. We’re now at nearly $120 million.
It was greatly satisfying to be able to help develop the Strategic Research Initiative, our $150 million research collaboration with IU Health, and to work with the faculty to create the Transforming Research Initiative, the strategic plan for the school’s research enterprise.
But most of all, it’s been incredibly rewarding to work with such a talented group of faculty, staff and students in an collegial atmosphere that you don’t find everywhere.
The University of Virginia and its medical school are great institutions, and I’m looking forward to the challenges of leadership there. But I’ll also look back on my time here with pride.
And most likely you haven’t heard the last from me: The success of this blog leads me to believe I’ll be starting a new one in Charlottesville. So thanks, and hopefully, I’ll see you on the Internet.
