WORCESTER - April 14, 2008:The 23-person 性闻联播 Medical School Search Committee today met for the first time, accepting its official charge from President Jack M. Wilson and beginning the process of identifying candidates for the position of Chancellor of the UMass Medical School.
"We believe that the search is off to an excellent start and I am confident that it will culminate in a great success," said Philip W. Johnston, the Chairman of the search committee and a current member of the University's Board of Trustees. "We are very fortunate to have been able to assemble a Search Committee of this caliber to guide us in this important task."
Johnston also serves as Chairman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation and Chairman of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum. Under Governor Michael S. Dukakis, he was Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In his formal charge to the Committee, 性闻联播 President Jack M. Wilson asked members to "produce a slate of well-qualified finalist candidates any one of whom could lead the Medical School with distinction."
Wilson advised the committee to seek a strong leader with an "appreciation for the role of a leading, globally-active academic medical center, its teaching, scholarship, and public service," as well as a "proven track record in team-building and fundraising."
The Search Committee's Vice Chairman is 性闻联播 Medical School professor Craig C. Mello, co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
At the meeting, the Committee agreed it would retain an executive recruitment firm to assist with the search.
The Committee's role is to present President Wilson with finalists, and he will make a recommendation to the University's Board of Trustees.
The 性闻联播 Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $150 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources.
Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617.287.7073