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Executives2026

95 Academic Medical Center CEOs to Know | 2026

Academic medical centers house the most complex patient care and the most consequential medical research. They also function as a training ground for the next generation of healthcare’s workforce. Leading these institutions demands a rare combination of clinical vision, research acumen, academic leadership and operational command.

The CEOs recognized on this list are redefining what’s possible at the highest levels of medicine. Bold and forward-thinking, these leaders are helping to build the future of medicine.

Note: Becker’s Healthcare developed this list based on nominations and editorial research. Leaders do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it an endorsement of the leaders or organizations mentioned. We extend a special thank you to Rhoda Weiss for her contributions to this list. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order.

Contact Anna Falvey at afalvey@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments.

A

Abhinav Rastogi

President and CEO

Temple Health

Philadelphia, PA

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Alan Kaplan, MD

CEO

UW Health

Madison, WI

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Alastair Bell, MD

President and CEO

Boston Medical Center Health System

Boston, MA

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Albert Wright Jr., PharmD

President and CEO

West Virginia University Health System

Morgantown, WV

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Alec C. Kimmelman, MD, PhD

CEO, and Dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine

NYU Langone Health

New York, NY

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Alison Flynn Gaffney

CEO

Banner–University Medicine

Tucson, AZ

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Anne Klibanski, MD

President and CEO

Mass General Brigham

Boston, MA

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Austin Reeder

President

Froedtert Hospital

Milwaukee, WI

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B

Bill Arnold

Executive Vice President and President of the Southern Region for RWJBarnabas Health, and CEO

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

New Brunswick, NJ

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Bob Page

President and CEO

The University of Kansas Health System

Kansas City, KS

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Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD

Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and CEO

University of Utah Health

Salt Lake City, UT

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Boris C. Pasche, MD, PhD

President and CEO

Karmanos Cancer Institute

Detroit, MI

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Bradley Haws

CEO of the Clinical Enterprise and Associate Vice President

University of Iowa Health Care

Iowa City, IA

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Brendan G. Carr, MD

CEO

Mount Sinai Health System

New York, NY

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C

Chad Lefteris

President and CEO

UCI Health

Orange, CA

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Cheryl Ficara, RN

President, and Senior Vice President of Hartford HealthCare

Hartford Hospital and the Hartford Region

Hartford, CT

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Cliff A. Megerian, MD

CEO

University Hospitals

Cleveland, OH

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Cory D. Shaw

President and CEO

UC Health

Cincinnati, OH

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Cristy Page, MD

CEO

UNC Health and Dean of the UNC School of Medicine

Chapel Hill, NC

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D

Daniel Podolsky, MD

President

UT Southwestern Medical Center

Dallas, TX

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Daniel Post

CEO

Banner–University Medical Center Phoenix

Phoenix, AZ

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David Brown, MD

President of Academic Medical Centers

Massachusetts General Brigham

Boston, MA

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David C. Linehan, MD

CEO

University of Rochester Medical Center

Rochester, NY

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David C. Miller, MD

CEO, and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at University of Michigan

Michigan Medicine

Ann Arbor, MI

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David Callecod

CEO

Ochsner LSU Health System of North Louisiana

Shreveport, LA

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David Entwistle

President and CEO

Stanford Health Care

Palo Alto, CA

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David L. Callender, MD

President and CEO

Memorial Hermann Health System

Houston, TX

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David Lubarsky, MD

President and CEO

Westchester Medical Center Health Network

Valhalla, NY

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Dawn Bulgarella

CEO

UAB Health System and UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance

Birmingham, AL

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Debra F. Sukin, PhD

President and CEO

Texas Children’s Hospital

Houston, TX

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Dennis Murphy

President and CEO

IU Health

Indianapolis, IN

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Dennis Pullin

President and CEO

Virtua Health

Marlton, NJ

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G

Gianrico Farrugia, MD

President and CEO

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, MN

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Gregory A. Nielsen

CEO

East Jefferson General Hospital

Metairie, LA

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H

Howard Chrisman, MD

CEO

Northwestern Medicine

Chicago, IL

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I

Imran Qadeer, MD

President

Allegheny General Hospital

Pittsburgh, PA

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J

James Downing, MD

President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Memphis, TN

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Jason Barrett

CEO

The George Washington University Hospital

Washington, DC

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Jeffrey Balser, MD, PhD

President and CEO

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashville, TN

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Jena Hausmann

President and CEO

Children’s Hospital Colorado

Aurora, CO

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John Couris

President and CEO

Tampa General Hospital

Tampa, FL

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John D’Angelo, MD

CEO

Northwell Health

New Hyde Park, NY

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John J. Warner, MD

CEO

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Columbus, OH

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Johnese Spisso

President, and CEO of UCLA Hospital System

UCLA Health

Los Angeles, CA

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Joseph Cacchione, MD

CEO

Jefferson

Philadelphia, PA

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Justin Precourt, RN, DNP

President

UMass Memorial Medical Center

Worcester, MA

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K

Kate Becker

CEO

University of New Mexico Hospital

Albuquerque, NM

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Keith Gray, MD

President and CEO

University of Tennessee Medical Center

Knoxville, TN

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Kevin B. Churchwell, MD

CEO

Boston Children’s Hospital

Boston, MA

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Kevin B. Mahoney

CEO

Penn Medicine

Philadelphia, PA

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L

Leslie C. Davis

President and CEO

UPMC

Pittsburgh, PA

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Lisa M. Boyle, MD

President, and Senior Vice President for MedStar Health

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

Washington, DC

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Lisa Tank, MD

President and Chief Hospital Executive

Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center

Hackensack, NJ

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Lou Fragoso

President and CEO

Manning Family Children’s

New Orleans, LA

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M

Madeline Bell

CEO

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

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Marc Boom, MD

President and CEO

Houston Methodist

Houston, TX

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Marlon F. Levy, MD

CEO

VCU Health System

Richmond, VA

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Marty Sargeant

CEO

Keck Medical Center of USC

Los Angeles, CA

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Mason Van Houweling

CEO

University Medical Center of Southern Nevada

Las Vegas, NV

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Michael Ash, MD

CEO

Nebraska Medicine

Omaha, NE

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Michael Kupferman, MD

CEO

Penn State Health

Hershey, PA

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Michael Roussos

Senior Vice President, President of Academic Hospitals, and CEO

Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center

Houston, TX

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Michele Morrison, RN

President and Chief Hospital Executive

Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center

Edison, NJ

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Mohan Suntha, MD

President and CEO

University of Maryland Medical System

Baltimore, MD

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N

Natalie Fox, DNP

CEO

USA Health

Mobile, AL

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P

Pamela Sutton-Wallace

Acting CEO

Yale New Haven Health

New Haven, CT

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Patrick Cawley, MD

CEO, and Vice President for Health Affairs of Medical University of South Carolina

MUSC Health

Charleston, SC

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Patty Maysent

CEO

UC San Diego Health

San Diego, CA

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Paul S. Viviano

President and CEO

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

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Pete November

CEO

Ochsner Health

New Orleans, LA

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Peter L. Slavin, MD

President and CEO

Cedars-Sinai

Los Angeles, CA

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Peter McCanna

CEO

Baylor Scott & White Health

Dallas, TX

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Peter WT Pisters, MD

President

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, TX

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Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD

President and CEO

Montefiore Einstein

Bronx, NY

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R

Redonda Miller, MD

President

The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Baltimore, MD

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Richard A. Anderson

President and CEO

St. Luke’s University Health Network

Bethlehem, PA

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Robert Corona, DO

CEO

Upstate University Hospital and Community Hospital

Syracuse, NY

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Robert G. Riney

President and CEO

Henry Ford Health

Detroit, MI

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Robert Stone

CEO

City of Hope

Duarte, CA

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Rodney B. Hanners

CEO

Keck Medicine of USC

Los Angeles, CA

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S

Shawn P. Vincent

President and CEO

Loyola Medicine

Maywood, IL

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Shereef Elnahal, MD

President

Oregon Health & Science University

Portland, OR

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Stephanie Conners, BSN, RN

President and CEO

BayCare Health System

Clearwater, FL

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Stephen Leffler, MD

CEO

University of Vermont Health

Burlington, VT

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Stephen Motew, MD

President and System CEO

UF Health

Gainesville, FL

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Steve Arner

President and CEO

Carilion Clinic

Roanoke, VA

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Steve Davis, MD

President and CEO

Cincinnati Children’s

Cincinnati, OH

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Suresh Gunasekaran

President and CEO

UCSF Health

San Francisco, CA

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T

Thomas Jackiewicz

President

University of Chicago Medicine

Chicago, IL

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Thomas M. Gronow, EdD

President and CEO

University of Colorado Hospital

Aurora, CO

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Timothy Dellit, MD

CEO, and Dean of the University of Washington School of Medicine

UW Medicine

Seattle, WA

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Tom Mihaljevic, MD

President and CEO

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, OH

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Tom Patrias

CEO

University Medical Center New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

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V

Vito Buccellato

President and Chief Hospital Executive

Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center

Neptune, NJ

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W

William Wertheim, MD

Executive Vice President

Stony Brook Medicine

Stony Brook, NY

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