Dear Colleagues:

I write today to let you know that E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, has decided to step down as dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the end of the academic year in 2022. Dr. Reece, who also is the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) executive vice president for medical affairs, was appointed the School of Medicine’s 30th dean in 2006. Dr. Reece will return to the medical school faculty at the end of his deanship.

During Dr. Reece’s 15-year tenure as dean, research funding has increased from $300 million to over half a billion dollars. Under his leadership, the School of Medicine has made major contributions to understanding COVID-19 and vaccine development and treatment, in addition to leading statewide COVID-19 testing efforts. The School of Medicine now totals 45 academic units — including 25 departments and 20 research centers, institutes, and programs — and has an annual operating budget exceeding $1.2 billion. 

Please join me in thanking Dr. Reece for his service to UMB and wishing him well as he transitions out of the deanship and into the next phase of his career. I will be in touch again once we have commenced a national search for a new School of Medicine dean.

Sincerely,

Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS

President