NEWS

Houpt appointed UNC-CH medical school dean, vice chancellor

By KAREN STINNEFORD
UNC-CH News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Jeffrey L. Houpt has been appointed dean of the School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The UNC Board of Governors today (April 11) approved Houpt's appointment. Houpt, 56, formerly served as dean of the medical school at Emory University in Atlanta.

Chancellor Michael Hooker said Houpt's knowledge about health care trends would be a tremendous asset in a contemporary medical school climate.

"Emory University has one of the best medical schools in the country, which in itself speaks volumes about Dr. Houpt's leadership and vision," Hooker said. "In addition to his impressive achievements as an administrator and physician, Dr. Houpt has a keen understanding about managed health care and will be able to lead academic medicine at Carolina into the next century."

Houpt, a board-certified psychiatrist, was dean of Emory's medical school from 1989 to 1996, when he went on sabbatical for a year. Since then, Houpt has served as a visiting professor in the department of social medicine at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Recently, U.S. News & World Report ranked Emory among the top five "up and coming" medical schools, along with UNC-CH.

Besides overseeing the daily operations of the UNC-CH School of Medicine, Houpt will serve as vice chancellor for medical affairs and as senior academic adviser on matters related to medical education, research and patient care provided at or through the UNC-CH School of Medicine.

Houpt replaces Dr. Michael Simmons, who resigned last July. Dr. Stuart Bondurant, dean emeritus of the school, has served as interim dean since then.

"I'm impressed with the faculty -- the breadth and depth of scholarship -- and the spirit of

collegiality," Houpt said. "The task is to preserve, and even enhance these, in the face of current changes in the financing and delivery of health care. Our goal should be nothing less than to be the model public medical school in the country."

Houpt, a native of Philadelphia, earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and completed his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale Psychiatric Institute. Houpt taught at Duke University School of Medicine for eight years.

He has advised or served on committees for the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Psychiatric Association, the Association for Academic Psychiatry, the American College of Psychiatrists, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Houpt has been awarded numerous professional honors and has served as editorial consultant and editor for several scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The author of four books and co-author of 60-plus scientific articles, Houpt has served as principal investigator for several National Institute of Mental Health studies. During his career, he has procured nearly $19 million for scientific research.

More than 840 full-time faculty members teach at the UNC-CH School of Medicine and practice at UNC Hospitals. Currently, 674 students are enrolled in the medical school, which consists of six basic sciences departments, 18 clinical departments, a department of social medicine, and 29 centers and programs.

The UNC-CH School of Medicine is ranked 14th among medical schools in the country in National Institutes of Health funding. The school's budget in 1995-1996 totaled $374.5 million, of which 60 percent came from federal and state governments. The rest came from patient fees, gifts, endowments and contracts.

The UNC-CH School of Medicine exists to educate students and professionals of the health and biomedical sciences, to conduct scholarly investigation of biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences, and to render service to the people and institutions of the state, the region, the nation and, as appropriate, the world.

The medical school was founded in 1879 as a two-year program, and expanded to a four-year, full M.D. program in 1952. North Carolina Memorial Hospital, now called UNC Hospitals, opened in 1952 to support the medical school.

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Contact: Karen Stinneford (email: kstinnef@email.unc.edu)