New dean named for Penn’s med school

J. Larry Jameson, a prominent molecular endocrinologist and dean Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, today was named to become dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine and executive vice president of the Penn health system next year.

Jameson will replace Penn's Arthur Rubenstein on July 1, 2011. Rubenstein announced his retirement as dean and head of the health system earlier this year. He will remain on the Penn faculty.

"Larry Jameson is an eminent researcher, educator and clinician with a sterling track record of inspires leadership …an unwavering ethical compass and a desire to broadly engage with the entire Penn community," University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann said.

When he assumes his new positions next year, Jameson, 56, will oversee the enterprise known as Penn Medicine, which encompasses the medical school – ranked second in research by U.S. News and World Report – and the three-hospital University of Pennsylvania Health System.  The health system's chief executive Ralph Muller will report to Jameson.

The Feinberg School of Medicine has seen its National Institutes of Health research funding rise during Jameson's tenure to nearly $300 million last year. The school's U.S. News ranking was 18th in research last year, its highest level ever.

"Penn Medicine's close integration of clinical, research and educational programs represents the future of academic medicine," Jameson said in a statement.

Jameson was educated at the University of North Carolina where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1976 as well as both a medical degree and his PhD in biochemistry in 1981. He received post graduate medical training at Harvard University's Massachusetts General Hospital.

After completing research and clinical fellowships at Harvard, Jameson joined the faculty as a professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology. He became vice president for medical affairs and dean of medicine in 2007.

Jameson's research has focused on the genetic causes of endocrine diseases – illnesses of a group of hormone-producing glands (thyroid, pituitary and adrenal) that direct growth, reproduction and metabolism. His work involved both basic genetic research and clinical application of that research.

He is widely published in leading medical and scientific journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Genetics and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He also has authored or edited a number of major books, including Jameson's Principles of Molecular Medicine, a 120-chapter text that sought to give clinical doctors a basic introduction to molecular genetics.

Jameson was born in Fort Benning, Georgia. He is married and has three children aged 15, 18 and 22.

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