Renowned pediatrician and medical school dean Sam Hawgood, MBBS, became interim chancellor today of UC San Francisco, the nations leading public university exclusively dedicated to health.

The appointment, which The University of California Board of Regents approved Jan. 23, 2014, places Hawgood at the helm of the $4 billion university during the national search for its 10th chancellor. He assumes the role from Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, who will become chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on May 1.

Hawgood has been dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs at UCSF since September 2009, after serving as interim dean since December 2007. The school has excelled under his leadership. It currently is ranked first among all schools nationwide in funding from the National Institutes of Health, indicating the excellence of its research enterprise. It also ranks fourth nationwide in both research and primary care education, according to the recent survey conducted byU.S. News & World Report.

As dean, Hawgood has been a core member of the Chancellors Executive Council, playing an integral role in the universitys leadership and guidance during a time of profound growth.

Sam is a highly respected physician, scientist and leader, with a collaborative and inclusive style that will serve the campus well through this transition, said UC President Janet Napolitano. I have full confidence that his leadership will enable UCSF to maintain its renowned excellence in research, education and clinical care into the foreseeable future.

Napolitano appointed an advisory committee of university faculty, staff, students, alumni and foundation representatives in January to support the national search, which Napolitano will oversee.

As dean of the School of Medicine, Hawgood leads an organization with an operating budget of more than $1.7 billion, nearly 8,000 faculty and staff, and 3,655 medical and graduate students, residents, fellows and postdoctoral scholars.

The school received $439.6 million in NIH funding in 2013, with many of its departments also leading the nation in their fields in these highly competitive grants.

The schools clinical faculty is renowned for world-class medical care, carried out at its top-tier hospitals UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital, as well as Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center.

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Sam Hawgood Takes the Helm at UCSF