SUBJECT:

Dean for Scientific Affairs – Health Sciences

I am pleased to announce that Gordon Gill, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, has agreed to serve as Dean of Science for Health Sciences. He succeeds Jack E. Dixon, Ph.D., who stepped down from the deanship in 2007 to assume the position of Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

I also want to thank Dr. Gill for his on-going and dedicated service to the Health Sciences, most recently in his role as Dean for Translational Medicine. As was previously announced, Gary S. Firestein, M.D., professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology and founding Director of the UCSD Health Sciences Clinical Investigation Institute, assumed this position beginning May 1. All of us in Health Sciences are so fortunate that Dr. Gill has agreed to continue to help us in this leadership position.

A distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Gill has been a member of the UCSD faculty for more than 38 years and a member of the Cancer Center since its founding in 1979. During his tenure at UCSD, he has served as chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the Department of Medicine (1971-95), as associate chair for scientific affairs in the Department of Medicine (1992-95) and as Chair of the Faculty of Basic Biomedical Sciences ( 1995-2003). He formerly served as Interim Dean for Scientific Affairs for the School of Medicine, filling the position vacated by Nobel Laureate George Palade, M.D. in 2001 and as Interim Director of the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center.

He received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Vanderbilt University. After serving a residency and a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellowship at Yale-New Haven Hospital, he continued his NIH-sponsored research in metabolism and endocrinology at UCSD.

Dr. Gill has served on numerous scientific boards and the editorial boards of many professional journals, including the position of editor for Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology from 1974 to 1992. Since 1995 he has been an associate editor of Cecil’s Textbook of Medicine. He is also a fellow and Vice President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

I look forward to working with Dr. Gill in his new capacity and am confident that he will provide strong leadership in overseeing research initiatives of the Health Sciences and graduate education programs, supporting ongoing programs and leading the design and implementation of new initiatives both internally and with partners outside of the university.

David Brenner Vice Chancellor Health Sciences