AUSTIN – The appointment of members of a presidential search advisory committee to advise The University of Texas System Board of Regents on the selection of a president for UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas was announced today (Nov. 8) by Regents’ Chairman James R. Huffines.
The committee will make recommendations to the Board on possible successors to President Kern Wildenthal, M.D., who announced Oct. 9 his plans to step down as president of the institution in September 2008. Wildenthal, who has served as the president of the institution for the past 22 years, will remain on the faculty and devote most of his time to philanthropic efforts on behalf of the medical center. Prior to being named president in 1986, he served as dean of the medical school for 10 years.
"UT Southwestern is a world-class institution that serves a critical role in meeting the health care and educational needs of Texas, and it has achieved international prominence for the quality and excellence of its clinical, research and educational programs," Huffines said. "The advisory committee includes outstanding representatives of all the constituencies of the medical center and the UT System community and I am confident that the committee will do an excellent job of screening candidates as we conduct a nationwide search for this vitally important leadership position."
The committee will be asked to present the names of no more than 10 candidates – unranked – to the board, which will choose the finalist or finalists. The committee membership is made in accordance with the Board of Regents’ Rules and Regulations, which includes a provision for representation on such committees by various constituencies of the institution.
The committee will be chaired by Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs in the UT System. Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, is assisting the UT System in the national search and advertisements for the position will be placed in publications so the committee may carry out its search as expeditiously as possible.
Other advisory committee members are:
- Regent Robert A. Estrada of Ft. Worth
- Regent Robert B. Rowling of Dallas
- Kirk A. Calhoun, M.D., president, UT Health Center at Tyler
- William Powers, Jr., president, UT Austin
- Alfred G. Gilman, M.D., provost and executive vice president, UT Southwestern, and dean, UT Southwestern Medical School
- Anne Marie Corgan, a fourth year student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
- Louis A. Stool, M.D., president of the alumni association
- Tammy Lightfoot, R.N., clinical research manager, Department of Internal Medicine – Nephrology
- Paul M. Bass, Jr., of Dallas
- Rita C. Clements of Dallas
- Peter O’Donnell, Jr., of Dallas
Three UT Southwestern faculty representatives will join the advisory committee when they have been named. "I look forward to the faculty representatives joining this advisory committee as their participation and input will be extremely important during the search for a new president," Huffines said.
UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the premier medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. Its more than 1,500 full-time faculty members - including four active Nobel Prize winners, more than any other medical school in the world - are responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and are committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern researchers undertake more than 3,500 research projects annually, totaling more than $361 million.
UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 92,000 hospitalized patients and oversee 1.7 million outpatient visits a year. The physician faculty of UT Southwestern offers patient care at UT Southwestern University Hospitals, Parkland Health & Hospital System, Children's Medical Center Dallas, VA North Texas Health Care System, and other affiliated hospitals and clinics in Dallas and Fort Worth. Three degree-granting institutions - UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and UT Southwestern Allied Health Sciences School - train more than 4,200 students, residents and fellows each year.
The University of Texas System is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with nine academic campuses and six health institutions. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $10.7 billion (FY 2008) including $2.3 billion in research funded by federal, state, local and private sources. Student enrollment exceeded 190,000 in the 2006 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
