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Spielberg to Serve Second Term as Medical School Dean

President James Wright has reappointed Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) Dean Stephen P. Spielberg for a second four-year term, effective July 1, 2007, by President James Wright. A pediatrician and pharmacologist, Spielberg joined DMS in 2003 after serving in positions in academic medicine and in the pharmaceutical industry.

Stephen Spielberg (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)

"Steve has brought to his position a great deal of enthusiasm and energy, the ability to work well with others across the institution, and a great deal of personal integrity," said Wright in an announcement to the Dartmouth community. "I am delighted that he has agreed to continue his service to the Dartmouth Medical School and look forward to working with him over the next four years."

As is customary, Dartmouth conducted a comprehensive review of the dean's first term, seeking input from overseers, administrators, faculty, and students before recommending reappointment.

The faculty committee, Wright noted, lauded Spielberg as "a respected colleague who is devoted to the school and has earned a national reputation ... (and) that, consonant with commitments by the National Institutes of Health, has defined translational research as an area of institutional emphasis." He also commended his efforts to broaden collaboration with other areas of the College and beyond, including a Global Health Initiative and joint projects with Tuck and Thayer Schools.

"Since solutions to problems in health and health care go well beyond the boundaries of medicine and science, we are positioned to contribute in ever greater ways to the health and well-being of our planet. We have seen vitality and excellence in our basic science departments, in the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, and in our clinical departments and key partners in Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center," Spielberg wrote in a letter to the DMS community." We must strive to provide the very best health care for our community," he added, "to train the very best new generation of physicians and scientists to advance that care, and to generate new knowledge from basic understanding of biology and disease through health care delivery."

Highlights during Spielberg's first term include overseeing a successful medical education accreditation review, beginning renovations of the basic science facilities, expanding relations with the Veterans Affairs hospital in White River Junction, Vt., increasing DMS clinical opportunities through outreach to new training sites, and implementing D-MEDS, the medical school's Web-based system for assessing clinical competencies of students throughout their clerkships.

Spielberg is recognized for championing the needs of ill children in clinical pharmacology and in clinical trials. He received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1966 and both an M.D. and a Ph.D. (pharmacology) from the University of Chicago in 1971 and 1973, respectively.

By HALI WICKNER

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