Med Center exec Hagen to retire; Atkinson to succeed

Executive Vice Chancellor Don Hagen, chief administrative officer of the KU Medical Center since 1995, will retire Dec. 31 and be succeeded by Barbara Atkinson, executive dean and vice chancellor for clinical affairs of the KU School of Medicine.

Atkinson will continue to serve as dean, in addition to serving as executive vice chancellor. One of only 12 women nationally serving as dean of a medical school, she will be the first woman to lead the KU Medical Center and the only woman to simultaneously hold the positions of medical school dean and executive vice chancellor of a medical center. She will oversee 2,500 faculty and staff and a $317.8 million budget.

Hemenway announced the leadership change Tuesday at the annual Medical Center faculty and staff convocation. He lauded Hagen for his service during a period of change in the health care and research environment.

“Under Don’s leadership, KUMC has provided Kansas and the nation with highly skilled doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who are dedicated to serving others,” he said. “We’ve also positioned the university as a leading source of technology transfer and a key research participant in the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute and the new Biosciences Authority.

“All this was accomplished while the hospital was being transformed into a public authority, and in spite of a difficult state funding climate in recent years.”

Hagen’s successor as executive vice chancellor is a seasoned academic administrator. Prior to her appointment as executive dean in 2002, Atkinson served two years as professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She came to that position from the MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where she was dean for three years (1996-99). Before that, she was professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania / MCP Hahnemann (1987-96).