Search resumes for next VPMA, Carver College of Medicine dean

After two months of gathering input from campus stakeholders, the University of Iowa is relaunching a search for the next vice president for medical affairs (VPMA) and dean of the Carver College of Medicine.

The initial search paused in October after the candidate who was offered the position declined due to family obligations.

President Barbara Wilson and Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel spent the next eight weeks reevaluating the search and meeting with campus stakeholders during 11 listening sessions.

“We obtained very helpful feedback on the search process and the leadership qualities that are needed to ensure that UI Health Care can best serve the university and the state of Iowa well into the future,” says Wilson. “We also heard very clearly that keeping the dual position intact so that one leader serving as both vice president and dean can balance our tripartite mission of research, education, and patient care.”

The president and provost have named Matthew Howard and Edith Parker as co-chairs of the new search committee.

Matthew Howard

Howard is the chair and department executive officer of the Department of Neurosurgery and the John C. VanGilder Chair in Neurosurgery. Howard joined the department in 1993 after his residency and neurosurgical training at the University of Washington, Seattle. He was appointed head of the department in July 2001. He holds joint appointments with the departments of neurology and otolaryngology, and specializes in epilepsy surgery.

Edith Parker

Parker is the dean of the College of Public Health and professor of community and behavioral health. She joined Iowa in 2010 as a professor and head of community and behavioral health and was named dean in 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Davidson College, and Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health degrees from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“I am grateful for the service of the previous search committee and co-chairs, as well as for the willingness of Dr. Howard and Dean Parker to lead us forward in the process of selecting the person who will fill this very important position,” says Kregel. “Campus has been tremendously engaged throughout the entirety of this search.”

The full search committee and search firm will be named in January.

The new VPMA and dean of the Carver College of Medicine will replace Brooks Jackson, who announced in February that he will return to faculty to focus on his research once his successor begins.

A national search for the next CEO of UI Hospitals & Clinics will begin after the new VPMA and dean has started. Former CEO Suresh Gunasekaran left at the end of February to become the new leader of the University of California San Francisco Academic Health System.