Lentsch Named Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development

Alex Lentsch, PhD, has been appointed by Dean Thomas Boat, MD, as senior associate dean for faculty affairs and development in the College of Medicine.
 
In this new position Lentsch will join with human resources to lead the college’s faculty affairs office, provide oversight for the faculty evaluation process and serve as a liaison to the college Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee. He also will assist departments in faculty recruitment and the dean in the evaluation, recruitment and retention of chairs and institute leaders.
 
"I also have asked Dr. Lentsch to develop a more systematic approach to faculty career development in the college,” Boat said. "In this important area he will assure that a functioning faculty mentoring system is in place for all departments, facilitate faculty career development and create programs to develop faculty leadership skills.”

Additionally, Lentsch will work closely with Melanie Cushion, PhD, senior associate dean for research, to create pipeline programs that facilitate the development of residents, fellows and junior faculty. He also will collaborate with Mia Mallory, MD, associate dean of diversity and inclusion, to promote recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty.

"Our faculty are our most precious resource,” Lentsch said. "Being in a position to help support and cultivate our faculty is something I am very much looking forward to. Robust mentorship, particularly of our junior faculty, is essential for our continued success and I will be making that one of my first priorities.”

"While aspects of the faculty affairs office may seem largely process-oriented, these processes, such as appointments, promotions and tenure, faculty workload and annual faculty evaluations are critical in determining how our faculty are meeting those missions, as well as how they are meeting their own personal and professional goals,” he added.

Lentsch is a professor and vice chairman for research in the department of surgery and serves as director of the UC Institute for Military Medicine, positions which he will continue to hold. He also leads a research program on inflammatory disease and is the principal investigator on several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense, including a T32 training grant.

He has published more than 160 scientific articles and book chapters and is a standing member of the NIH Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology study section as well as a review panel of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences that evaluates postdoctoral T32 training grants.
 
Lentsch completed his undergraduate studies at Northern Kentucky University before receiving a doctorate in physiology and biophysics from the University of Louisville. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical School.