 "Photo: Walter Rosado")
Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance announced the selection of the Health Sciences Center's new president at a press conference Monday morning.
Dr. John Baldwin comes to Tech from Harvard University where he is a professor of surgery and chief executive officer of the Immune Disease Institute.
"The opportunity to lead an organization of this scale and this scope with this much ambition was exciting to me," Baldwin said. "It's an opportunity to really leave a mark. I'm a very loyal Harvard guy, but in a place like that, it's hard to leave a discernible mark."
Baldwin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and then received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has served as the head of surgical programs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, dean of the Dartmouth Medical School and worked in the business sector of health care.
"Personally, I'm very excited," said Arthur Nelson, dean of the School of Pharmacy. "He has tremendous experience that can guide our direction and initiative. He's got experience in research and the medical practice - and significant experience in the business world."
Hance said he has gotten to know Baldwin well through the search process.
"He's a good person," Hance said. "He believes in health care and teaching. He's a very thoughtful person. He thinks through things."
Taking the position was one decision Baldwin said he didn't spend much time considering.
"I knew instantly that I would want to do that," Baldwin said. "It wasn't like, 'Oh let me think about it for a few days.' I immediately said I'd be delighted."
Baldwin said he thinks he will enjoy his new position.
"I enjoy administrating because I see it as a chance to see young people in the field and ensure that they will succeed," Baldwin said. "I'm glad to be here at a place and time when we're clearly on a rapid ascendancy."
Hance said the first time he met Baldwin was in a hotel in Washington, D.C., during the search for the new president.
"He walked into the hotel and I saw that he had on cowboy boots," Hance said. "I said, 'OK, I have a chance with this guy.'"
Born in Fort Worth and raised near McKinney, Baldwin's Texan heritage will be a benefit to the Health Sciences Center, Nelson said.
"Being a native Texan, he has deeper roots," Nelson said. "He's more likely to stay here for a long time and we desperately need a long-term engagement."
Baldwin said he plans to stress unity among all Tech campuses.
"We're sprawling from El Paso to Dallas," Baldwin said. "It's important to stress unity of the Texas Tech identity in all of those locations, so I'd like to work hard on that."
Baldwin said he also wants to put more emphasis on research.
"The importance of research indicates our desire to contribute to knowledge," Baldwin said. "Every student should be a researcher for life. I want to focus on the students and residents and young faculty members. My principle role is to attract good people and help them succeed."
To cover the costs of this research, Baldwin said he plans to seek out federal funding, which often requires other researchers to examine the research proposal and determine its validity.
"We're going to aim for peer-reviewed funding," Baldwin said. "It's seen by many outside agencies as indicative of how strong the university is. It reflects the standing of your university in comparison with others."
Nelson said he thinks Baldwin's experience was the determining factor that secured him the position.
"No. 1 was his breadth of experience," Nelson said. "From being a surgeon to a CEO, he's been engaged in the private sector and the public sector. And he's had an outstanding research career. You couldn't find much more preparation."
Baldwin said he plans to spend the next few weeks visiting each of the Health Sciences Center's campuses around the state to determine the specific needs of each campus before officially taking office Aug. 27.
Be the first to comment on this article!