Search committee named for College of Medicine dean

The search committee charged with helping to identify the next dean of the University of Florida College of Medicine has been named by Douglas J. Barrett, M.D., UF senior vice president for health affairs.

The committee will be seeking a successor to C. Craig Tisher, M.D., who has been dean since 2002. Tisher announced in June that he plans to step down next summer.

Kathleen Long, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., F.A.A.N., dean of the College of Nursing, will chair the committee and Win Phillips, D.Sc., UF's vice president for research, will serve as vice-chair.

The committee will include the following faculty:

Mavis Agbandge-McKenna, Ph.D.

Kenneth Berns, M.D., Ph.D.

Edward Block, M.D.

Kendall Campbell, M.D.

Fonda Eyler, M.D.

Terry Flotte, M.D., Ph.D.

William Friedman, M.D.

Susan Frost, Ph.D.

Heather Harrell, M.D.

Richard Johnson, M.D.

Lucia Notterpek, Ph.D.

Robert Nuss, M.D.

Marco Pahor, M.D.

Johannes Vieweg, M.D.

Charles Wood, Ph.D.

Other members include Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare; Karen Bodnar, a fourth-year medical student; and Karl Altenburger, M.D., vice president of the Florida Medical Association.

Fred Malphurs, director, and Brad Bender, M.D., chief of staff, will be available to the committee as liaisons to the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"The committee will cast a wide net to find the absolute best candidates who have the skills and experience to lead the college through a future filled with opportunities and challenges," Barrett said.

The committee will be assisted by an executive search firm that will be named by early to mid-August, he said. The development of the position description, recruitment and screening of applicants by the search firm and the initial evaluation of prospective candidates is expected to occupy much of the fall. Ideally, he said, on-campus interviews of the most competitive candidates will occur in late winter/early spring, with the new dean selected by late spring and in place by next summer.

Public documents, meeting times and other information pertinent to the search will be posted on an appropriate Web site accessible by all, Barrett said. In addition, there will be ample opportunity for faculty and staff to interact with the top candidates during their campus visits.