After a national search and with the help of the UH search committee, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan McCullers M.D., as Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean of the UH Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine beginning Sept. 1, 2024.
"It is a tremendous honor to be selected as the second Dean of the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine,” says McCullers. “Founding Dean Stephen Spann has done an amazing job shepherding the College through its inaugural four years, and I am eager to take the torch and run with it. I look forward to leading the great team that has been established as we train the next generation of physicians, deliver outstanding, personalized clinical care, conduct ground-breaking research in collaboration with other Colleges at the University of Houston, and serve our local community."
McCullers joins us from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine where he served as senior executive associate dean of clinical affairs and chief operating officer since 2019. Concurrently, he also served as Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital chair of pediatrics since 2012. In his role with UTHSC, he provided oversight of all clinical affairs across Tennessee, acting as the main liaison to more than a dozen major affiliated health systems throughout the state.
As chair of pediatrics, he grew Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital (LBCH) from a regional, community hospital into a comprehensive academic medical center. LBCH, which is now recognized as a ‘Best Children's Hospital’ by U.S. News & World Report, made the prestigious list with recognition in five specialties. Moreover, he has expertise in providing care to underserved communities and establishing non-medical determinants of health initiatives to improve health outcomes.
A highly accomplished and regarded physician-scientist, McCullers has led an NIH-funded research laboratory studying influenza viruses and published more than 180 peer-reviewed research articles. Throughout his storied career, he’s earned more than two dozen awards, with his most recent being the prestigious city of Memphis Martin Luther King Jr. Luminary Award and the Leadership Memphis Change Makers Award. A native of Virginia, McCullers earned his medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also completed his internship and residency.