David M Stern MD

Dr. David Stern is currently Executive Dean and Vice-Chancellor for Clinical Affairs for the University of Tennessee’s College of Medicine and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center.

He comes to this position after a career as a physician-scientist mainly at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, and administrative experience as a Dean at Both the Medical College of Georgia and University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine.

After completing college at Yale and medical school at Harvard, Dr. Stern began a long stint in New York at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University.  He started as an intern in internal medicine in 1978.  By the time he left New York for Georgia in 2002, he was the Carrus Professor and Director of the Center for Vascular and Lung Pathobiology.

Dr. Stern’s research work focused on properties of the blood vessel wall, especially in chronic vascular disorders such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

During the course of building the research Center at Columbia, Dr. Stern became fascinated with building programs at academic medical centers.

That led him into administration and his first job as a medical school Dean and Chief Clinical Officer at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.  Dr. Stern spent three years in Georgia where he was known for his rapid recruitment of many department chairs, promoting clinical excellence in the faculty practice plan, enhancing the school’s focus on diversity, and forging a strong partnership between the school and the health system.

In July of 2005, Dr. Stern assumed the Deanship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  In 2008, he also became the Vice-President for Health Affairs.  His focus was on building collaborative programs, especially with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, reaching out to the community through the founding of a strong community advisory board, developing centers of excellence, reengineering the faculty practice plan, and providing a foundation for the university’s health system (UC Health).

During his tenure at the University of Cincinnati, he catalyzed the formation of a Joint Cancer Program between the College of Medicine, University Hospital and Children’s Hospital, recruited multiple department chairs and center/institute directors, completed a strategic plan for the College with its key partners, facilitated the securing of a CTSA award from the NIH, pushed the practice plan to increased clinical effectiveness and profitability, and designed a health system for the university with an urban and suburban campus, as well as a closely aligned physicians group.

He assumed the position of Executive Dean and Vice-Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Tennessee’s Health Sciences Center in the spring of 2011.

Dr. Stern is married to Dr. Kathleen Stern, a classmate from their days in medical school.  They have two sons.