Alumni Association

Medical School-Duluth Dean Richard Ziegler Steps Down- Gary Davis Named Interim Dean

After serving ten years as head of the Medical School-Duluth, Dean Richard J. Ziegler has stepped down. Associate Professor Gary Davis, head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences, has accepted the position of interim senior associate dean effective January 1. A national search for a new senior associate dean is underway.

At a dinner in his honor in December, Professor Ziegler was cited for his great commitment to the Medical School and to the mission of the Duluth campus to educate the next generation of physicians serving rural and American Indian communities. Professor Ziegler will continue his work at the Medical School as a teaching professor in the Department of Pathology.

Professor Davis has led the Department of Behavioral Sciences for 22 years, and is also the associate director of the Center for Rural Mental Health Studies at the Medical School. He recently was recognized as a Rural Health Hero at a state conference co-sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health & Primary Care, the Minnesota Rural Health Association and the Rural Health Resource Center - Minnesota Center for Rural Health. The honor was bestowed because of Davis’ work developing a telemedicine network providing mental health consultation and short-term treatment in conjunction with clinics in six rural communities. Professor Davis is a licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience.

The mission of the University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth is to educate students who will practice family medicine and other primary care specialties in rural Minnesota and American Indian communities; to provide high quality academic and clinical education programs for professional, graduate and undergraduate students, and to create distinguished research programs in health sciences. Located on the UMD campus, the University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth is a branch of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE
http://www.med.umn.edu/duluth/