Taubman to Conclude CEO and Dean Terms In December 2023
Mark B. Taubman, M.D., URMC CEO and Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, has decided not to seek reappointment upon completion of his terms as CEO and Dean. The 72-year-old URMC leader will hand over the reins on December 31, 2023 or later if a successor has not been identified, as announced by University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf at today’s Board of Trustees meeting.
“I have been honored to lead this great institution and am proud of the significant advances we have achieved, particularly over the past two years,” Taubman said. “With so many of the goals of our strategic plan either accomplished or well underway, the time feels right to begin succession planning to assure our Medical Center is structured for a strong and vibrant future.”
Taubman racked up many firsts during his tenure. In 2015, he became the first to serve as both Dean of SMD and URMC CEO. He was the first to create and implement an integrated strategic plan for URMC that stretched across all three missions, re-invigorating the foundations for core patient care, research, and education activities, and significantly boosting commitments to diversity and inclusion efforts. He led a strong and successful faculty leadership recruitment focus, and assured a renewed emphasis on financial agility by establishing the Medical Center’s first integrated financial model to recognize its interdependent missions and ensure support for the academic enterprise.
More recently, his steady and reassuring leadership was essential to the University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also worked with Monroe County public and health officials to structure a coordinated community plan, and dedicated Medical Center resources to build tools and infrastructure to support screening, testing and eventually equitable distribution of vaccine within the Rochester community and surrounding regions.
“Mark has been a visionary leader and a thoughtful, supportive colleague to me and to so many others across the institution,” Mangelsdorf said. “The fact that he is providing us with ample notice of his future plans so that we can thoughtfully organize and conduct a search for his successor is just another indication of his commitment to the ongoing work of the University and the Medical Center. I am not only grateful for Mark’s past service; I’m also glad that we can count on his continued service for the next 15 months.”
Taubman said that he will actively work to conclude many important initiatives currently underway. These include developing local solutions to our nation’s health care worker shortage, improving the Medical Center’s financial performance and growing the research mission. He will also stay focused on finalizing expansion and modernization plans for Strong’s Emergency Department and inpatient areas, opening the first phases of UR Medicine’s Orthopaedics and Physical Performance Center, and lay plans for the future growth of the UR Medicine health system.
A board-certified cardiologist, Taubman came to the Medical Center as chief of the Cardiology Unit and Paul N. Yu Professor in Cardiology in February 2003. He became chair of the Department of Medicine and Charles E. Dewey Professor of Medicine in May 2007, and served in that role until being named as dean. He briefly served as acting CEO in 2010 while former CEO Bradford Berk, M.D. recovered from an injury.
Taubman graduated from the New York University School of Medicine and completed his residency and cardiology fellowship training at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He held academic appointments at Harvard Medical school, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Prior to being recruited to the University of Rochester, he was director of cardiovascular research at Mt. Sinai.