Dr. Jay Hess chosen as new dean

Dr. Jay L. Hess has recently been selected as the new vice president for university clinical affairs and dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine, pending approval of the IU Board of Trustees at its June meeting, according to a press release.

Hess is currently the Carl V. Weller Professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“I am honored to be selected to lead the Indiana University School of Medicine and serve as vice president for university clinical affairs,” Hess said in the
release.

“This is a crucial time for academic medical centers as they transform themselves to better pursue their clinical, research and educational missions, while also playing an increasing role in promoting health and economic development of the larger
community.”

Hess’s career has been defined by multiple roles he has played in the medical field.
He is currently the University of Michigan Health System’s director of clinical laboratories and its director of sponsored research.

He is also a co-founder and chairman of the Board of Paradigm, a sequencing-based diagnostics company and a joint venture between the University of Michigan and the International Genomics Consortium, according to the release.

Hess will become the 10th dean in the School of Medicine’s 110-year history upon board approval, according to the release.

He is the first dean in the past five appointments to come from outside IU.

In the release, Hess said he hopes to build on the existing strength in IU’s health sciences and the improvements made at the medical school under Dr. D. Craig Brater.
Brater will be retiring June 30 after 13 years as dean of the medical school and 27 years total at IU.

“The School of Medicine has had strong leadership under Dean Brater,” Hess said in the release.

“With its outstanding faculty and staff, close affiliation with IU Health and the strong leadership and support of the president, trustees, business community and the state, Indiana University is well poised for further excellence and national visibility in all of its missions. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to make that vision a reality.”

IU President Michael A. McRobbie expressed enthusiasm at Hess’s appointment in the press release, praising his record as a medical researcher, teacher and practitioner. He noted that Hess was selected from a national pool of more than 50 external and internal candidates, according to the release.

“The search committee was extremely rigorous in its effort to find and evaluate the type of top-flight talent IU needs to continue to strengthen the School of Medicine and our clinical affairs operations, and Dr. Hess rose to the top of an extremely competitive field of candidates,” McRobbie said in the release.

“In addition to holding a leadership position at one of the nation’s finest health systems, Dr. Hess is a recognized expert in pathology as well as on genetic and molecular changes that lead to cancer. He also brings significant administrative experience to this role, which will be invaluable given the size and complexity of IU’s health-related operations.”

Hess is expected to begin his new duties Sept. 1, according to the release.

— Makenzie Holland