University Times

The search committee to identify a successor to Graduate School of Public Health Dean Bernard D. Goldstein has been charged with its mission.
Goldstein announced in November his intention to step down as GSPH dean, effective Aug. 31. He will remain on the school’s faculty.
Arthur Levine, senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences, has charged the committee to find candidates who can build on GSPH’s momentum as a nationally prominent public health school, according to search committee chair Steven E. Reis.
“Under Dean Goldstein’s leadership, the school is in great shape, as the third-ranked recipient in NIH (National Institutes of Health) funding, with a wide range of educational, research and community outreach programs,” said Reis, who is associate professor of medicine in the medical school and associate vice chancellor for clinical research, Health Sciences Office of Clinical Research. “The next dean should be able to build on that platform toward even greater status locally, nationally and globally.”
Reis said committee members had met only once and their first focus will be to develop a job description.
“Right now, I can’t give you all the specific qualities we’ll be looking for, except to say this will be a far-reaching search that will include a diverse pool of candidates,” Reis said. “Dr. Levine has asked us to be creative and far-reaching in our search, to not necessarily limit our focus to the traditional public health background of candidates.”
The committee has engaged Spencer Stuart, an executive search-advising firm with experience in searches at this level and in fields related to public health, he said.
Levine has asked the committee to recommend four or five unranked candidates, with the goal of having a new dean in place by the fall term, Reis said. “There’s a certain sense of urgency to move on this,” he said. “We will finalize the job description at our March meeting, then begin advertising broadly in relevant journals. We hope to begin bringing in candidates by June.”
In addition to Reis, other search committee members include: search committee vice chair Loren H. Roth, associate senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences, professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine, senior vice president, quality care and chief medical officer of UPMC; Steven Belle, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in GSPH; Joseph P. Costantino, professor of biostatistics, GSPH; Susanne M. Gollin, professor of human genetics, GSPH, and professor of otolaryngology and pathology, School of Medicine; Lee Hipps, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Urban League of Pittsburgh; Judith R. Lave, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, GSPH; John W. Mellors, professor of medicine, School of Medicine, and professor of infectious diseases, GSPH; Roberta Ness, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, GSPH, and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive services, School of Medicine; Wesley M. Rohrer, assistant professor of health policy and management, GSPH.
The committee’s staff representative is Denise M. Thrower, secretary, Health Policy Institute, Department of Health Policy and Management, GSPH.
The student representative is Shaenelle Wilson, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, GSPH.
Margaret C. McDonald, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, Health Sciences, and assistant professor of epidemiology, GSPH, is the committee’s Health Sciences liaison.
Donald A. Henderson, senior adviser, UPMC Center for Biosecurity, and University Distinguished Service Professor, is a committee consultant.
Administrative support will be supplied by Stephen J. Byers, director of Academic Affairs, Health Sciences.
—Peter Hart