April 21, 1997

The following news release was distributed by the UCOP news office at the conclusion of a special meeting of the UC Board of Regents on Thursday, April 10.

UC San Francisco dean named chancellor

Dr. Haile T. Debas, dean of the School of Medicine at UC San Francisco, will serve as chancellor of the campus beginning July 1 while the search continues for a permanent UCSF chancellor.

The Board of Regents, meeting by teleconference on April 10, appointed Debas to the chancellor's position for a period not to extend beyond a year. He will succeed Dr. Joseph B. Martin, who announced last November that he would leave UCSF to become dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard.

In appointing Debas, the Regents affirmed the recommendation of UC President Richard C. Atkinson. The president asked Debas to serve as chancellor to provide the "strong and experienced campus leadership" necessary to guide UCSF through a period of significant activity and transition, marked by the merger of UCSF's and Stanford University's clinical services and the development of a major new site for the UCSF campus.

"Dr. Debas is a gifted surgeon, a much-admired dean and an academic leader of international repute," Atkinson said. "He is a vital, driving force on the campus who inspires confidence throughout UCSF and in the larger community."

"The Board of Regents has full confidence in Dr. Debas," said Dr. Tirso del Junco, chairman of the board. "He is an excellent choice to lead UCSF as it embarks on an exciting future."

Debas said: "I have accepted this responsibility because of my commitment to UCSF and all four of its schools. Over the course of the last two years several key campuswide initiatives have been launched. These include planning a second campus, merging the clinical enterprise with Stanford, the development of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute and the Comprehensive Cancer Center. In the School of Medicine, we are redesigning the Human Genetics Program and our medical education training program in Fresno. As chancellor on an interim basis, I intend to ensure that planning for these and other programs continues without interruption or loss of momentum."

During his tenure as UCSF's seventh chancellor, Debas will continue as dean of the School of Medicine and continue to receive his current annual salary of $394,500, which includes compensation of his medical practice. Debas has indicated that he does not wish to be considered for the chancellor's position on a permanent basis.

Debas, 60, joined UCSF in 1987 as professor and chair of the Department of Surgery. In 1993, when Martin became chancellor, Debas succeeded him as dean of the School of Medicine.

Debas' career as a physician, researcher, teacher, and academic administrator spans more than three decades and includes positions at hospitals, medical centers, and universities in British Columbia, Canada, and the United States.

The recipient of numerous honors and awards, he has presented guest lectures and participated in visiting professorships at schools of medicine around the world. Debas is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a director of the American Board of Surgery, a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

He serves on the National Institutes of Health Directors Panel on Clinical Research and on several national committees. He is also active on the editorial board of numerous professional journals and the author of many publications.

Debas, a native of Asmara, Eritrea, received his bachelor's degree in biology at University College in Addis Ababa and his medical degrees at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

UC San Francisco is the only UC campus devoted entirely to the health sciences. With more than 4,000 students, 15,000 employees and an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the campus is the second largest employer in San Francisco and home to four schools, a graduate program, the UCSF Medical Center, 11 research institutes, 1,500 laboratories and more than 2,000 continuing research projects.

In addition, the UCSF faculty provides the patient care and conducts the biomedical research at the affiliated San Francisco General Hospital and Veteran's Administration Medical Center in San Francisco. Among UCSF's many major medical advances is the discovery of recombinant DNA, the basic research leading to a vaccine for Hepatitis B and the discovery of Vitamin E.

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