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Committee Appointed To Search For New OHSU President

The OHSU Board of Directors has formed a Presidential Search Committee to begin the process of selecting a new president of Oregon's only academic health and science university.

Current president, Peter O. Kohler, M.D., announced in August that his retirement will take effect by the end of 2006. Kohler became OHSU president July 1, 1988, and is one of the nation's longest-serving academic health center presidents. OHSU has had only three presidents since 1974 when it separated from the Oregon University System and became an independent university.

"Peter Kohler has set a leadership precedent that will help guide us as we move forward with recruitment of the next president," said Henry Hewitt, OHSU board member and chairman of the Search Committee. "Dr. Kohler has led a period of successful growth and improvement for OHSU by every measure. I am confident that the Search Committee will be able to recommend a new leader who will build upon the past and lead OHSU to continued success in the future."

The Search Committee, which works under the auspices of the university's Board of Directors, also agreed to select a search firm to help identify and recruit qualified candidates nationwide. The Search Committee will evaluate candidates and select finalists. A broad representation of OHSU employees, students and alumni, and community members will have an opportunity to meet the final candidates and to provide input to the Search Committee as the process moves forward.

The search may take up to a year to complete, and the Committee will present its recommendation to the OHSU Board of Directors at the conclusion of the process.


Presidential Search Committee Membership:
Henry Hewitt, chairman, Presidential Search Committee; OHSU Board of Directors
Grover Bagby, M.D., director, OHSU Cancer Institute
Philip Curtis, building coordinator, OHSU Facilities Management
Sima Desai, hospitalist, OHSU Hospitals and Clinics
Kirby Dyess, vice president, Oregon Board of Higher Education, OHSU Board of Directors
Dick Geary, chairman, OHSU Foundation Board
Scott Gibson, vice chairman, OHSU Board of Directors
Richard Goodman, M.D., Ph.D., director, OHSU Vollum Institute
John Hunter, M.D., chairman, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine
Kathleen Potempa, D.N.Sc., OHSU vice president and dean, School of Nursing
Jeff Stewart, D.D.S., associate professor, School of Dentistry
Keith Thomson, chairman, OHSU Board of Directors

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