Newswise — Bethesda, Md. – During a ceremony steeped in tradition and academic pageantry, Dr. Jonathan Woodson was inaugurated as the seventh president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) on Nov. 30.
Woodson was officially sworn in as the university’s newest president in June, succeeding Dr. Richard W. Thomas, who served as president from 2016 until July of 2021, and Dr. William Roberts, who served as acting president from July 2021 until June 2022. Woodson is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and the four Surgeons General on a wide array of issues related to graduate health professions education and health care research. He is also responsible for the academic, research and service mission of the university, which includes more than 2,500 students from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences and public health, the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, and the university’s Postgraduate Dental College and College of Allied Health Sciences. He also oversees more than 15 research centers and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute.
Woodson said, first and foremost, he is committed to protecting and developing a culture of respect, diversity, and inclusion, where civility and discourse prevails.
“USU will pursue new heights of excellence and academics, scholarship, research, talent acquisition, university culture, service, and university operations, and we will succeed,” Woodson said. “The university can expect from me vibrant servant leadership, which is defined by an unqualified effort to create the conditions in which all members of our community have the ability to succeed and measured by the desire of those outside of our community wanting to join us in our mission … I fully expect the knowns and unknowns of our current and future challenges, as I take on this new assignment. I could not be more enthusiastic or optimistic about the future of the university and the military health system, that is why I feel extremely honored and privileged to be the seventh president of the Uniformed Services University at this point in our amazing history.”
The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Hon. Gilbert Cisneros, Jr., congratulated Woodson on his installment as the next USU president. He explained that at USU, students develop capabilities to deliver selfless service at home and anywhere in the world, including the most astute and uncertain environments.
“In order to forge ahead, we need leadership that will inspire and continue USU’s unequaled joint military medical education, training, and research. Dr. Woodson is that leader,” Cisneros said. “Dr. Woodson’s impressive career spans the full spectrum of medicine and service, physician, educator, and senior public servant, both as a civilian and as a retired Major General in the United States Army Reserves.”
Cisneros added that there will undoubtedly be challenges ahead, and he could think of no one more qualified than Woodson to lead USU into the next generation.
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ms. Seileen Mullen, shared similar sentiments, congratulating Woodson on his appointment. Mullen noted that the definition of investiture is the action of formally “investing a person with honors and rank and that is certainly what we are doing here today.” While we are investing in Woodson, she said, “He is also investing in us, and our country, and our military health system, and more importantly in our future.”
Mullen added that Woodson’s leadership in educating and inspiring future generations of military leaders is an investment beyond calculation, “and one we should all be grateful for.”
“Dr. Woodson’s willingness to take on this responsibility at a time of great challenge in health care in all sectors and parts of the globe is further demonstration of his commitment and dedication to public service,” she said. “The combination of medical experience, administrative leadership, policy development, and academic excellence that he brings to this position is as rare as it is critically important.”
Woodson graduated from the City College of New York and the New York University School of Medicine. He received his postgraduate medical education at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and completed residency training in internal medicine, as well as general surgery, vascular surgery, and critical care surgery. He also holds a master’s degree in strategic studies, with a concentration in strategic leadership, from the United States Army War College. In 1992, he was awarded a research fellowship at the Association of American Medical Colleges HealthServices Research Institute.
Prior to his position as USU president, Woodson was a Lars Anderson Professor in Management and Professor of the Practice at Boston University’s (BU) Questrom School of Business, where he established and led the BU university-wide Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy. Woodson was also a professor of Surgery and Associate Dean for Students, Diversity, and Multicultural Affairs, and senior attending vascular surgeon at Boston Medical Center.
From 2010 until 2016, Woodson served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, a position he was appointed to by President Barack Obama. In that role, he was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all health and force health protection-related issues and ensured the effective execution of the Department of Defense medical mission. In 2016, he was appointed as a member of the USU Board of Regents and later served as its chair.
In June 2022, Woodson retired at the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army Reserves and as Commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Command in Pinellas Park, Florida, after 36 years of service. His military deployments include Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, Kosovo, and Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a former senior medical officer with the National Disaster Management System, through which he responded to the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.
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About the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. USU also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research. The University's research program covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
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