College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the Mütter Museum announce new CEO
Larry Kaiser, a former board member and longtime College Fellow, will lead expansion efforts including new exhibit space for the Mütter.
This week the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the parent organization of the Mütter Museum, announced thoracic surgeon Larry Kaiser as its new president and CEO. Kaiser is a longtime College Fellow and former board member.
The announcement comes more than a year after Kaiser’s predecessor, Mira Irons, stepped down in September 2023, just two years following her appointment, marking a brief and controversial tenure. She was the first woman to hold the position leading the country’s oldest private society for doctors that was founded in 1787. The College has since been led by three Fellows serving as interim CEOs: Carolyn Asbury, Daniel Dempsey, and Sankey Williams.
Kaiser was previously a managing director for the management consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal, and before that, he was the head of the Temple University Health System for almost a decade. He also worked at the University of Pennsylvania in multiple capacities from 1991 to 2008, serving as chief of general thoracic surgery, director of the Center for Lung Cancers and Related Disorders, professor of surgery, and founding director of Penn’s lung transplantation program.
He first joined the College in 1993 and served on the board for 8 years. He was treasurer, chair of the finance committee, and also a member of the executive committee. As treasurer, Kaiser was involved in the College’s efforts to expand its footprint, purchasing two neighboring historic buildings on the block of South 22nd and Chestnut Streets for $9.3 million. Though the details and timing are still in development, Kaiser will spearhead a capital campaign to fund building renovations, likely over multiple years, with the goal of creating an expanded, interconnected campus.
“The College is really at an inflection point,” said Kaiser. “I just think that this is a time when the College can get to the next level. We are a fellowship organization, but we also are an educational organization, and we also are a resource to the community, especially when it comes to public health.”
Kaiser takes the helm as the Mütter Museum, globally renowned for its collection of anatomical specimens, is in the midst of an identity crisis over the ethics of displaying human remains.
In 2022, Irons hired Kate Quinn as the medical history museum’s first executive director, and the pair led efforts to take a critical look at the Mütter’s displays and practices. That included removing images of human remains from the museum’s website and social media platforms, as well as taking down online exhibits and hundreds of educational YouTube videos in 2023. The sudden move prompted a massive outcry from Mütter fans who accused them of deconstructing the beloved macabre museum, which the leaders denied.
Around the time Irons left, Quinn began a two-year project called Postmortem, seeking public feedback on the Mütter’s exhibits and collections, with particular emphasis on questions of the ethical use of human remains. Following that project and a collection-wide audit, Quinn plans to decide whether and how human remains are displayed at the Mütter.
Kaiser, who now oversees Quinn, called the museum “a local and national treasure” and said the Postmortem discussions and events have been “incredibly valuable.” He wants the Mütter to continue to be a “beloved institution.”
“Once we have completed [Postmortem], and really look at the kinds of feedback that we’re receiving, I think it will help us in terms of planning for the future,” said Kaiser. “We’re continuing to look at [this issue], recognizing the sensitivity around the display of human remains. But this museum has been in existence for many, many years and times were different in the past … as stewards of a great collection, we need to look at what is appropriate for exhibition.”
Beyond the Mütter, Kaiser hopes the College can be more engaged in public health conversations, like a “think tank.” The College’s campus expansion will make space for administrative offices as well as exhibition spaces to hold College programming in the future. Kaiser added that the Mütter will be part of this expansion.
“This additional space would allow us to expand the capabilities and the space for the Mütter,” he said. “It would also allow us to bring in additional outside exhibitions … We’d like for people to visit the College on more than one occasion. To do that, we need to expand the opportunities to have different sorts of exhibits, in addition to what we offer through the Mütter.”