UI names search committee for next VP for Medical Affairs

Current Carver Dean and Vice President for Medical Affairs Brooks Jackson announced in February he will step down when his successor is named.

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Katina Zentz

Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, speaks to attendees during “State of the Enterprise: Strengths, Challenges, and the Path Forward” at the Medical Education and Research Facility on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. Jackson provided an overview of UI health care research.

Rylee Wilson, Managing Editor


Following the departure of Vice President of Medical Affairs and Carver College of Medicine Dean Brooks Jackson, the University of Iowa announced on Thursday the members of the search committee who will find Jackson’s successor.  

In February, Jackson announced he would step down and return to a faculty position when his successor is named.  

The university hired search firm WittKieffer to lead up the search. WittKieffer was also the firm heading the search for a new Tippie College of Business dean in 2020

Jackson’s departure comes after former UI Hospitals and Clinics CEO Suresh Gunesekaran left the hospital in January to lead University of California San Francisco Health. 

The search for Gunesekaran’s replacement will begin once a new VP for Medical Affairs is selected, according to a Tuesday press release. 

The 21-member committee will be chaired by John Keller, former Graduate College dean and professor of dentistry, and Cynthia Wong, department executive officer for the Department of Anesthesia. 

The full list of committee members can be found here. 

The search for new leadership comes as UIHC prepares to undertake a 10-year expansion plan that will include adding new spaces for teaching and learning and clinic space, and building a new main hospital tower. 

The UI received $70 million from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation in February to build a new patient-care tower, the largest gift in UI history. 

“As UI Health Care prepares to tackle the next bold phase in its history, the time is right for new leadership to pilot the organization to the next level,” Jackson said in February.