FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Communications and Marketing

Sheila Champlin – (901) 448-4957

 

 

Dean Russell O. Gilpatrick, DDS, and Dean Richard D. Peppler, PhD,

to Depart UT Health Science Center

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            Memphis, Tenn. (June 8, 2007) – Today the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Interim Chancellor Hershel P. Wall, MD, announced that Russell O. Gilpatrick, DDS, dean of the College of Dentistry, and Richard D. Peppler, PhD, dean of the College of Graduate Health Sciences, are leaving their positions to pursue new opportunities.  Dean Gilpatrick will leave at the end of September to become executive associate dean for Academic Affairs in the new College of Dental Medicine at Midwestern University, Glendale, Ariz.  Dean Peppler will depart at the end of July to become associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs in the College of Medicine at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. 

“Russ and Dick have made tremendous contributions to the UT Health Science Center family, and we will miss them,” said Interim Chancellor Wall.  “Both deans are leaving to accept new positions in organizations where they will be building programs from the ground up,” Chancellor Wall noted.  “It’s clear that the knowledge and skills they developed during their successful tenures at our institution have prepared them for these new opportunities.”  Interim deans for both colleges will be announced in the near future.

Dean Gilpatrick has been with UTHSC for more than 19 years and has led the College of Dentistry for nearly four years.  Dean Peppler came to UTHSC 22 years ago to serve as executive associate dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs in the UTHSC College of Medicine.  Ten years ago, he was also appointed dean for the College of Graduate Health Sciences.

      As the flagship statewide academic health system, the UT Health Science Center is focused on a four-tier mission of education, research, clinical care and public service, all in support of a single goal: to improve the health of Tennesseans.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main campus, which includes six colleges, is located in Memphis.  UTHSC has additional College of Medicine campus locations in Knoxville and Chattanooga.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

 

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