by JIM BERGAMO / KVUE News, photojournalist DENNIS THOMAS and KVUE.com

kvue.com

Posted on January 21, 2014 at 10:45 AM

Updated yesterday at 6:40 PM

AUSTIN-- The new Dell Medical School at the University of Texas has announced who will be its inaugural dean.

The school said Tuesday that Dr. S. Claiborne "Clay" Johnston has earned the position. He will be in charge of developing new teaching approaches, research and patient care for the medical school.

Johnston, 49, is currently the associate vice chancellor of research at the University of California-SanFrancisco.

"This is just a tremendous opportunity, to know that you're creating a world class medical school from the bottom up,"Johnston said.

The new dean went to Amherst College and got his medical degree at Harvard. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of California-Berkeley.

There is no greater opportunity for improving health care than by building a medical school from the ground up at a top institution like UT and in an entrepreneurial city like Austin. With a deeply committed community, its remarkable Austin hasn't had a medical school until now. The opening of Dell Medical School gives the city the chance to approach medical education differently and more effectively than ever before, Johnston said.

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UT's Dell Medical School names inaugural dean