KNOXVILLE -– Interim UT President Jan Simek has recommended that Steve J. Schwab, M.D. be elected chancellor for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Simek recommended Schwab to head the Memphis-based UT Health Science Center at a meeting of the Executive and Compensation Committee in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the UT Board of Trustees in Knoxville. The committee approved Simek’s recommendation and will forward it to the full Board of Trustees for action on Thursday.
Schwab has served as UTHSC interim chancellor since Oct. 1, 2009. He simultaneously served as executive dean for the UTHSC College of Medicine, largest of the Health Science Center’s six colleges. A national search was conducted to fill the chancellor post.
“Throughout the search process, Dr. Schwab demonstrated his commitment to thinking strategically, responding openly, and acting in a collaborative and decisive fashion,” Simek said. “His management skills coupled with his ability to innovate and build strong, mutually beneficial bonds with internal and external partners are tremendous assets that he brings to his role as chancellor.
“Under Dr. Schwab’s leadership, UTHSC will continue to expand its outreach and service to the community, to increase its research capacity, and to sustain its long-term commitment to educating competent caring health care professionals to serve the region and the global community.”
Schwab joined UTHSC as the first-ever executive dean for the UT College of Medicine in July 2006. In this role he took on administrative responsibility for the Health Science Center’s three College of Medicine campuses in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. In 2007, he assumed direct responsibility for the College of Medicine Memphis campus due to a vacancy in the Memphis dean’s office. As chancellor, Schwab will relinquish his role as executive dean, and a search will be conducted for his successor in that post.
“It is an honor to be selected to serve as the leader for the UT Health Science Center team,” Schwab said. “Our faculty, staff and students have many reasons to be proud of our legacy and optimistic about our future as we move forward to fulfill our mission — to improve the health of our local, regional and global community.”
In addition to serving as chancellor, Schwab will continue serving as chairman of the UT Medical Group Board of Directors, a position he has held for three years. UT Medical Group (UTMG) is the private group practice affiliated with the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine faculty. A not-for-profit, non-tax-supported group practice, UTMG is dedicated to quality patient care, medical education, and medical research. With more than 350 clinicians, UTMG is the largest physician group in the region.
Prior to joining UTHSC, Schwab served as interim dean and chief clinical officer of the Medical College of Georgia, where he was also a Regents Professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine. Before that, from 1985 to 2003, he was at Duke University where he rose to become professor and vice chairman of medicine. He has held board positions in both the private and public sectors. Schwab is internationally recognized in the field of renal disease with more than 150 refereed publications and five books to his credit.
As the flagship statewide academic health system, the UT Health Science Center’s mission is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.
The UT Health Science Center’s main campus is in Memphis and includes six colleges: allied health sciences, dentistry, graduate health sciences, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. UTHSC has additional colleges of medicine and pharmacy plus an allied health sciences unit in Knoxville and a College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga.