Medical School leadership transition

Dear faculty and staff,

Earlier today, the Board of Regents approved our agreement with M Physicians and Fairview, marking an important milestone that brings clarity and stability to the various dimensions of our relationship for the next 10 years.

This is a critical step, but it is not the end of the journey. We must continue to creatively and collaboratively explore multiple paths to address Minnesota’s urgent health care needs — including fostering additional and expanded partnerships, strengthening our medical school and schools of health sciences, and ensuring our students and faculty have access to learn and practice in modern facilities. The path ahead requires a leader with demonstrated success leading organizations through transition, elevating national excellence and forging the next chapter of how the University of Minnesota advances its healthcare mission.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Carol Bradford will join the University of Minnesota as Interim Executive Vice President for Health Affairs (EVPHA) and Dean of the Medical School, beginning February 16. In this newly defined role, working with the health science deans, she will lead all aspects of our healthcare enterprise, positioning it for success. As EVPHA, she will report to the President’s Office; as Dean, she will work closely and have a reporting relationship with the Provost.

Dr. Bradford is an internationally respected leader in medicine and is uniquely equipped to fulfil this vital role of advancing and bridging the Medical School and all of the academic health sciences across the University. Her career accomplishments include leading cultural transformation in a rapidly changing and uncertain healthcare environment, fostering collaborative interdisciplinary initiatives and balancing academic and clinical missions with strategic growth in Big Ten academic medical centers.

For the past five years, she served as dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. There, Dr. Bradford oversaw the opening of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Center and launched a new learning track to prepare students for rural and smaller-community practice, addressing physician shortages in those areas. She also led the college to achieve an all-time high of $477 million in total extramural research funding and national recognition from U.S. News & World Report as a top-tier medical school for excellence in research in 2025-26.

Dr. Bradford is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and an internationally recognized head and neck cancer surgeon-scientist. In 2020, she was elected president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and was inducted into the academy’s Hall of Distinction in 2023.

Driven to serve, inspire and achieve a bold vision, Dr. Bradford is committed to working with us to advance our land grant mission, which includes improving health and healthcare for all of Minnesota.

As we look ahead, I offer enormous gratitude to Dean Tolar for his leadership of the Medical School for nearly nine years and for his many clinical and research accomplishments over more than three decades at the University. He has been a staunch champion for our institution and the state of Minnesota, and his impact will be felt for generations. He will step down as Dean and Vice President on February 13. We wish him continued success in his new role as President, CEO and Executive Dean at Baylor College of Medicine.

Our vision for health and healthcare advances the University’s land grant mission to serve all of Minnesota. I am optimistic and energized by the work ahead.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Cunningham
President