Newswise — NEWARK --The Board of Trustees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has approved the appointment of Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP, as the eighth dean of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS). The appointment follows a nationwide search for a dean to lead the Newark-based medical school. Since September 2005, Johnson has served as the Sharon and Joseph L. Muscarelle Endowed Interim Dean of New Jersey’s first medical school.
“New Jersey Medical School is a wonderful statewide asset with a unique history of service to New Jersey borne from the challenges of the past,” said UMDNJ President William F. Owen, Jr., MD. “Bob Johnson brings the credentials, experience, gravitas and ideas to build on that rich history and commitment. As much as this appointment honors Dr. Johnson, we too are enriched by his balance of institutional memory and distinguished service to this community and state.”
Added UMDNJ’s Board Chairman, Kevin M. Barry, MD, MBA, “As Chair of the UMDNJ Board of Trustees and a fellow alumnus, it is with great pride that I add my congratulations on Dr. Robert Johnson’s appointment as the permanent dean of the New Jersey Medical School. When I attended New Jersey Medical School I learned Pediatrics from Dr. Johnson, so I can personally attest to his talents as an educator, mentor, and most important, to his skills as a kind and compassionate physician. Dean Johnson’s contributions to community health and to the science of medicine are too numerous to mention. New Jersey and the UMDNJ community are very fortunate to have him continue his leadership here at NJMS and we are looking forward to a great future.”
“It is an extreme honor to have the confidence of the Board of Trustees at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,” said Johnson. “I consider it a privilege to be the first alumnus to serve as Dean of New Jersey Medical School.”
Johnson, 64, who is an educator, clinician, researcher and administrator, graduated from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (currently known as the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School) in 1972. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor of Pediatrics in 1976. He is the first alumnus to become dean of New Jersey Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in the field of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. Johnson has served on numerous boards, committees and task forces nationwide, statewide and locally. Johnson will continue holding his faculty appointment as Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at NJMS. He also continues a regular schedule of seeing and treating patients. UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School is comprised of 22 basic science and clinical departments, 1,894 faculty members and 65 centers and institutes. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels. NJMS has more than 1,380 medical students, residents and fellows. The school provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs.
“In recent years, we have made tremendous strides towards advancing UMDNJ’s four mission areas: Education, Research, Patient Care and Community Service,” says Dr. Johnson. “We have successfully secured Stimulus Funding in the amount of $29.3 million. NIH funding has virtually doubled from $41.6M in 2006 to $82.3M in FY 2010. This has markedly strengthened our biomedical research program. In addition, we have established four new research core facilities as well as three new departments: Emergency Medicine, Otolaryngology, and Radiation Oncology.”
Johnson and his wife Maxine reside in Orange, New Jersey.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 6,000 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, which provides a continuum of healthcare services with multiple locations throughout the state.
RSS