University appoints Medical School’s interim dean

Dr. Nancy E. Dunlap

he University of Virginia named Dr. Nancy E. Dunlap the interim dean of the University’s Medical School. Dunlap’s role as dean, effective May 1, will include managing the budget, aiding in the development of academic programs, acting as a leader for faculty, students and staff, and overseeing the Medical School’s general operations, Provost John Simon said.

In selecting the interim dean, Simon said he looked for an individual who had the skills and experience to lead the Medical School through a series of impending changes.

“These are challenging times for health care and research efforts within academic medical centers,” Simon wrote in a letter to Dunlap. “There are significant changes that are needed to respond to the external environment.”

Simon said the Medical School is currently at a turning point following the recent completion of a strategic plan for the Health System by the Board of Visitor’s Special Committee on Strategic Planning.

“[Dunlap] is very familiar with the fast-changing environment for health care nationally, which will almost certainly continue to grow more complicated and challenging,” University spokesperson McGregor McCance said in an email.

Dunlap currently holds a position as physician-in-residence with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices in Washington, D.C. She has been a pulmonologist and also a medicine and business professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has also served as vice chairman for clinical affairs at UAB and chief of staff and chief operating officer for The Kirklin Clinic, a renowned outpatient care facility in Birmingham, Ala.

Dunlap is expected to remain at the post for at least 18 months while the University continues its search for a new executive vice president for health affairs. A permanent dean will be named once that position is filled.

Dunlap replaces Dr. Steven T. DeKosky who announced in October his intention to retire and return to full-time teaching, according to a University press release