A new leader for a new era of health care
I am pleased that, after a months-long national search, Dr. Marsha D. Rappley has been appointed vice president for health sciences and CEO of the VCU Health System.
Marsha, whose appointment begins in August, is a significant addition to our VCU community. She is a game-changer for an institution that is rising quickly and is viewed as a leader in health care research, education and clinical care in our nation.
A pediatrician, Marsha joins us from Michigan State University, where she has served as dean of the College of Human Medicine for 10 years. Under her leadership, federal research funding in the school has doubled, and endowments have grown by 80 percent over the past four years. She has also expanded the medical school to serve virtually every corner of Michigan.
She is a national leader in academic medicine, having recently been named chair of the board of directors of the Association of American Medical Colleges and currently serves as chair of the council of deans. She also serves on the Research Advisory Panel of the AAMC, advocating for support of NIH and the anchor academic institutions like VCU, where this work is carried out in health systems and laboratories every day. She previously served on the board of directors for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs and has formerly served on the American Board of Pediatrics sub-board for development and behavioral pediatrics and as chair of the pediatric advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She recently completed six years on the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits American, Puerto Rican and Canadian medical schools.
Marsha, who will join our prestigious faculty in the School of Medicine, is also a tenured professor of pediatrics and human development at Michigan State University and has consistently been named a Top Doc and one of the Best Doctors in America by her peers. She has been recognized for distinguished service by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
She has moved quickly and has experience in a variety of important roles, including a clinical director, chair, associate dean for academic affairs and dean. She earned a nursing degree from the University of Michigan and her medical degree from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
Marsha brings important leadership to VCU at a critically important time. From day 1, she will be asked to deal effectively with the enormous challenges facing the health care industry and to set the course for growing VCU’s research, education and clinical care missions. I have full confidence that she will do exactly that: Marsha has established herself as a leader in academic medicine who influences the national dialogue on health care policy, research and practice.
I am excited about the ways in which Marsha will continue to position VCU and VCU Health System as models for health care in the nation and beyond. She will be my ideal partner in advancing VCU and its academic medical center to national preeminence.
Photo courtesy of Derrick L. Turner, Michigan State University
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