The head of surgery at the University of Arizona will step in as interim leader of the university’s two medical schools.
The appointment of Dr. Leigh Neumayer as interim senior vice president for health sciences at the UA will be effective Jan. 1, UA President Ann Weaver Hart said in a news release Friday afternoon.
In addition to overseeing the UA College of Medicine Tucson and the UA College of Medicine Phoenix, the vice president for health sciences oversees the UA College of Pharmacy, the UA College of Nursing, and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The total health sciences budget is $595 million per year.
The announcement of Neumayer’s appointment came one day after Dr. Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia announced he’s resigning his position as senior vice president of health sciences at the UA to focus on research and teaching. Garcia, who joined the university in 2013, recruited Neumayer to the UA in 2014.
It will be up to the next UA president to choose Garcia’s successor, Hart said in her statement. Hart also is stepping down, and a search for a new UA president is under way. Members of the Arizona Board of Regents have said they would like to name a president for the university by summer.
Neumayer is the first woman to head the UA College of Medicine Tucson’s department of surgery. She became department head on Aug. 18, 2014, and also holds the Margaret E. and Fenton L. Maynard Endowed Chair in Breast Cancer Research.
Neumayer’s salary for the new position has not been determined, UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson said Friday. She currently earns $725,000 per year. He also did not have any information about whether a new surgery head would be named.
Garcia earns $870,000 per year and will continue to receive that salary for two more years under terms of his contract.
“I am excited about Dr. Neumayer’s leadership in the health sciences,” Hart said in her prepared statement. “She has a distinguished record as a physician scientist and has demonstrated exceptional leadership as chair of the department of surgery, building an incredible team and restoring critically important transplant programs. She also has established a tremendous working relationship with our Banner Health colleagues.”
Neumayer completed her general surgery residency training at the UA in 1990 and served for two years on the faculty.
She earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and her master of science degree in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“I am honored to serve in this interim position,” Neumayer said in a prepared statement. “Dr. Garcia recruited me here and the University of Arizona has benefited greatly from his leadership. He has built a strong foundation for additional growth in the health sciences at the University of Arizona.”
