Physician-scientist Craig Tisher named dean of University of Florida College of Medicine

University of Florida physician-scientist C. Craig Tisher, M.D., who has served as interim dean of the College of Medicine for the past five months, has been named dean of the college effective 9/4.

In announcing the appointment, UF Vice President for Health Affairs Douglas Barrett, M.D., said, “Dr. Tisher’s service as interim dean has been exemplary, and he has a clear vision for the future of the college. He has very ably led the college through a leadership transition, recruited and appointed key department chairs for the college, and dealt efficiently and effectively with challenging academic, fiscal and administrative matters. Within a very short time, he was won respect throughout the college.”

Tisher is internationally known for his scientific contributions to the understanding of kidney structure and function in health and disease. He also is an experienced academic administrator who served as senior associate dean of UF’s medical school from 1998 until his appointment as interim dean in April 2002. He also served from 1980 through 1997 as chief of the college’s division of nephrology, hypertension and transplantation, and was appointed in 1999 as the Folke H. Peterson dean’s distinguished professor.

Tisher is a past president of the American Society of Nephrology and former editor of the society’s journal. He has served as treasurer of the International Society of Nephrology and as assistant editor of the journal Kidney International. He graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., then completed residencies in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis and at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle. He completed his fellowship training in nephrology at the University of Washington.

The UF College of Medicine encompasses 24 clinical and basic science departments, which are staffed by 872 faculty at the Gainesville campus and 274 faculty at the UF Health Science Center’s campus in Jacksonville. The college now has approximately $181 million in external grants and contracts for research, teaching and patient-care programs, and ranks 49th in the nation in scope of grant support from the National Institutes of Health.

In the educational arena, the college has 450 students enrolled in the M.D. degree program, 229 doctoral students in medical sciences, 20 master’s degree students, 19 students enrolled in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 119 students enrolled in the physician assistant program. In addition, 586 physicians are enrolled in residency programs and clinical fellowships based in Shands at UF medical center.