Omenn to Step Down as U-M Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs

Gilbert S. Omenn Photo: D.C. Goings

Former U-M President Lee Bollinger announced in December 2001 that Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., will step down upon completion of his term as the U-M’s first executive vice president for medical affairs, effective July 31.

Bollinger said that Omenn “has devoted himself entirely to the University and to the Health System” and achieved many of the objectives for which the position was created in 1997, including creating a vision of an integrated health system and achieving synergy across the Medical School, hospitals and health centers, and M-CARE; strengthening the faculty and faculty research support in the Medical School; and progressively enhancing the national standing of the hospitals, Medical School and M-CARE, all of which have significantly improved their national rankings.

“Always striving for excellence and always looking to make improvements, he [Omenn] set a very high standard and helped take this Medical School to a higher level of achievement,” said Allen S. Lichter, M.D., dean of the Medical School.

Omenn, who also holds the title of professor of internal medicine, human genetics and public health, came to the U-M from the University of Washington where he served as dean of the School of Public Health. He was associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget during the Carter administration. After a year’s leave Omenn intends to take up a faculty role at the U-M.

—Kara Gavin