Finalists Announced for M.D. Anderson Presidency

 

Austin -- Four finalists for the presidency of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have been selected by an advisory committee, Board of Regents Chairman Bernard Rapoport announced Monday (April 15).

 

The finalists, all of whom are medical doctors, are Charles M. Balch, interim executive vice president for health affairs at M.D. Anderson; Edward M. Copeland III, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine; John Mendelsohn, chairman of the department of medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; and Andrew C. Von Eschenbach, chairman of the department of urology at M.D. Anderson.

 

The regents plan to interview the finalists in May and are expected to select a successor to President Charles A. LeMaistre at their regularly scheduled meeting on May 9. LeMaistre, who has been president of M.D. Anderson since 1978, announced last summer that he would retire from the presidency at the end of the current fiscal year.

 

"The advisory committee has forwarded to the board a list of four highly distinguished candidates, each of whom is eminently qualified for leadership of M.D. Anderson, one of the world's great centers of cancer research and treatment," Rapoport said.

 

"It is clear that members of the committee have conducted a very thorough nationwide search. I am grateful to them for the exemplary way in which they have assisted the Board of Regents in this very important selection process."

 

State law requires that the names of finalists for a university presidency be made public at least 21 days before the regents fill the position.

 

The 16-member advisory committee was chaired by Dr. Charles B. Mullins, the U.T. System's executive vice chancellor for health affairs. The committee included U.T. System officials and regents, representatives of the faculty and staff at M.D. Anderson, and representatives of external communities.

 

The four finalists were selected from a list of 71 applicants and nominees whose names were compiled after the position was advertised nationally. Nominations were solicited from administrators at the nation's major academic health centers, comprehensive cancer centers, as well as faculty and staff at M.D. Anderson, and others.

 

The finalists were ultimately selected by the committee after a number of applicants and nominees were interviewed by committee members, faculty and staff groups at M.D. Anderson.

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