Two in running for UMMC post

JACKSON — Two finalists have been named in the search for a new vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). The finalists include one internal and one external candidate.

They are Dr. Robert C. Robbins, chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, and Dr. Scott Stringer, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences at UMMC.

Robbins, a specialist in heart and lung transplantation, graduated from medical school and completed residency training in surgery at UMMC. He completed a fellowship in cardiothoracic transplantation at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York and additional residency training in cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University Hospital. He is director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.

Stringer, a specialist in rhinology and head and neck oncology, graduated from medical school and completed residency training in general surgery and otolaryngology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He received a master of science in administrative medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is president of the faculty practice, University Physicians, and the associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs.

A national search firm that specializes in placing top-level executives in academic medicine presented a slate of candidates with a broad range of specialties and geographic locations. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, chair of the search committee, said she was thrilled with the national interest in Mississippi.

The candidates will have a final round of interviews and make presentations to faculty, staff and students in late January. Following that, the search committee will forward their recommendation to Dr. Dan Jones, chancellor of the University of Mississippi, for the final selection.