QI
Feature
Change in Chancellors UTHSC gains its 11th chancellor
Peter F. Buckley, MD, became the 11th chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) , after a unanimous confirmation vote by the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees. His appointment is effective February 1, 2022.
Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Graduate Health Sciences, and Health Professions – as well as major regional clinical health science locations in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville.
Dr. Buckley, most recently dean of the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and executive vice president of medical affairs for the VCU Health System, succeeds Steve J. Schwab, MD, who has served as UTHSC chancellor for approximately 12 years. “I am delighted to follow the great legacy of my colleague and friend, Dr. Schwab, and to build on that legacy and all the great work of the faculty, trainees, and staff, not just in Memphis, but all across the state,” Dr. Buckley said. “I had the privilege of interviewing for this distinguished position in the middle of the pandemic, and so I could see firsthand all the great work, the team cohesion, and the community engagement and the support across the state by UTHSC’s students and residents, faculty, and staff. That was very compelling to me, and I think we can build on UTHSC’s great legacy and very impressive momentum to have an even greater presence in our communities.” The pandemic has given the public a greater awareness and appreciation for academic health science centers like UTHSC, Dr. Buckley said. “They understand that science brings hope, science can change lives, science can save lives, and that science can do that in a very rapid way when we all work really well together,” he said. “There’s also a greater appreciation for the compassion and the skill of our clinicians, as well as an appreciation of the need to build up our clinical workforce all across the state, and of course, that is the hallmark of UTHSC.” The chancellor is the chief executive officer of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s statewide operation, which includes six doctoraldegree-granting health science colleges – Medicine, 14
“As you look at the Health Science Center, while our home is in Memphis, our footprint through our campuses is really all across the great state of Tennessee,” he said. “And so, that’s what I see as the opportunity, the opportunity to maximize that community relationship within Memphis, while also being the health sciences provider of the clinical workforce for the entirety of Tennessee, to have our science impact the health of all Tennesseans, and to maximize the cohesion across all elements of our
