Message from the Provost

December 16, 2009

Dear Colleagues and Members of the Tufts Community:

Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, has announced that he will be stepping down in order to take a newly created position at Merck & Co. Dean Rosenblatt has led the medical school with distinction for six years - significantly longer than the average tenure of a medical school dean - and the school is in a strong position thanks to his leadership.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dean Rosenblatt for his service to Tufts. His accomplishments are many, and we are proud to have had him in the administration. We have benefited from the experience he gained in significant academic and leadership roles before his arrival at Tufts in 2003, including as George R. Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, President of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and Senior Vice President for Research at Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories. During his deanship, he has worked to recruit outstanding faculty, forge closer ties with our clinical affiliates, improve the facilities for faculty research and student life and learning, and advance diversity. Dean Rosenblatt has also continued some of his ground-breaking bone research while at Tufts - leading his faculty by example.

We have asked Vice Dean Harris Berman, M.D. to serve as Interim Dean of the School of Medicine starting December 21, 2009. Dr. Berman is an accomplished medical leader and we are delighted that he has accepted this new challenge. He received his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and has had a distinguished career in global health. He also served for 17 years as Chief Executive Officer of Tufts Health Plan. Dr. Berman came to Tufts University School of Medicine in 2003 as Chair of the then Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and subsequently became Dean of Public Health and Professional Degree Programs. In 2008 he was elevated to Vice Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs for TUSM, and Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine. Dr. Berman has made important contributions to the medical school and to the university, including the establishment of biomedical partnerships with institutions overseas.

We will turn our attention to the organization of a search for a new dean after the start of the new year. With the help of the deans, faculty, and staff, we expect this to be a smooth transition for Tufts School of Medicine. Please join us in wishing Dean Rosenblatt all the best in his new venture at Merck.

Sincerely,

Larry Bacow, President, and Jamshed Bharucha, Provost and Senior Vice President