Johns Hopkins Vice President for Medicine/Dean named Vice President for Health Affairs at Emory

Business Wire, Dec 20, 1995

ATLANTA--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 20, 1995--Michael M. E. Johns, M.D., vice president for medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, and dean of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been named executive vice president for Health Affairs and director of The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Emory University.

As director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Dr. Johns also will serve as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Emory University System of Health Care, Inc. (EUSHC). The announcement was made Wednesday, Dec. 20, by Emory President William M. Chace. Dr. Johns is expected to take office in July, after he completes one of his last acts as dean at Hopkins, the presentation of a medical diploma to his son.

An otolaryngologist/head and neck surgeon, Dr. Johns is known internationally for his studies of the effects and outcomes of treatment. He became vice president for Medicine and dean at Johns Hopkins in 1990. In these positions, he has responsibility for the school's extensive teaching programs, with more than 1,600 physicians, biomedical and behavioral scientists. Under his leadership, Johns Hopkins moved into first place among all medical schools in sponsored research, with more than $250 million awarded in 1994-1995. He heads Hopkins' physician practice plan, similar to that of The Emory Clinic, and was instrumental in planning and implementing clinical programs that, in the words of his often-quoted strategic plan, "meet the needs of individual patients, reflect the needs of society, and are sustainable in a competitive environment."

The medical faculty provide the care at The Johns Hopkins Hospital which, during the five years in which Dr. Johns has been dean, was consistently ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. This ranking is based largely on the individual rankings of the faculty's medical and surgical specialties. Extremely active professionally, Dr. Johns currently is chairman elect of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the leading organization in academic medicine, and has become a noted spokesman for the role of academic medical centers in health reform.

President Chace called the appointment a "significant point in Emory's history," saying he was "excited by Dr. Johns' acceptance of our top leadership position in the health sciences at Emory University. At Hopkins, Dr. Johns took an outstanding medical school and made it even greater. It is the nation's leading medical research school, with clinical services often ranked the best in the world. We also were pleased to see his eagerness, while at Hopkins, to bring together the schools of medicine, nursing and public health in many ways and to work closely with the College of Arts and Sciences. We believe he has the appropriate scientific, clinical, pedagogical, and administrative skills, vision, experience, and energy to take an outstanding health sciences center at Emory and lead it into a new era of greatness in the next century."

James B. Williams, chairman of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board of Trustees, said, "Dr. Johns will carry forward the momentum the Woodruff Health Sciences Center has gained during the past decade under Dr. Charles R. Hatcher's strong leadership. He is an exciting choice at an exciting time for Emory."

Dr. Johns' appointment concludes a search that began last March when Charles R. Hatcher, Jr., M.D., vicepresident of Health Affairs and director of the Woodruff Center since 1983, announced his intention to retire as soon as a strong successor could be found. (Dr. Hatcher will remain at Emory as a consultant to the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Board of Trustees and to President Chace.) Dr. Billy E. Frye, vice president for Academic Affairs and provost of the University, headed a search committee that looked at more than 60 candidates. The final selection of Dr. Johns was made by President Chace.

Dr. Frye says "Dr. Johns was chosen from a list of some of American medicine's most outstanding leaders, which made the selection process difficult, especially as the search narrowed to three extraordinary finalists. The President, like the Search Committee, was impressed by his accomplishments, his continuing commitment to his profession, his involvement with the community and his impact on government affairs, all while overseeing significant changes in one of the nation's leading institutions. For example, under his leadership, Johns Hopkins totally revised its curriculum and developed a technology transfer program that is considered a model of its kind."

Dr. Johns says "I have been deeply honored to serve as dean of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, but the post at Emory is one I could not refuse. It is an opportunity to take on new challenges and vastly expanded responsibilities at an exciting place in an exciting city."

Born in Detroit, Dr. Johns received his bachelor's degree and continued with graduate studies in biology at Wayne State University. He received his M.D. degree with distinction from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1969. Following his internship and residency in Ann Arbor, he joined the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army and served as assistant chief of the Otolaryngology Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from 1975 to 1977.