With Gratitude: Celebrating Interim College of Medicine Dean Jennifer Hunt’s Leadership

Donald W. Landry, M.D., Ph.D., Interim President

Stephen J. Motew, M.D., President and System CEO, UF Health

After serving as interim dean and as the Folke H. Peterson Dean’s Distinguished Professor of the UF College of Medicine since January 2024, Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., will step down effective July 31 to assume the role of dean of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

We want to begin by congratulating Dr. Hunt and expressing our deep appreciation for her steady, thoughtful leadership during a pivotal period for the college. Over the past two-plus years, she has made a lasting impact across our education, research and patient care missions, guiding the College of Medicine with clarity, energy and purpose. We are especially appreciative of her focus on continuity and progress, ensuring the college remained well-positioned for the future while navigating ongoing change.

Under her leadership, the college addressed significant fiscal and operational complexity while strengthening its clinical practices, growing revenue responsibly and optimizing resources. During this time, the college successfully recruited outstanding department chairs, leaders, investigators, educators and clinicians. 

The college also expanded educational opportunities statewide, including securing accrediting-body approval to move forward with a new regional medical campus for medical students at UF Health’s Jacksonville campus while continuing to grow its graduate and graduate medical education programs. To further support long-term growth, Dr. Hunt implemented strategic administrative changes, including the creation of a new Office of Graduate Education to revitalize doctoral and master’s programs and enhance collaboration between the Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses. Notably, the college completed a successful institutional Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education visit, resulting in continued accreditation for the full 10-year cycle.

Research experienced significant momentum as well, with the college expanding its grant portfolio, reaching a record level of National Institutes of Health funding and playing a key role in the renewal of the Clinical and Translational Science Award, not to mention securing several large grants and new state support aligned with strategic priorities. Philanthropic support also increased, including two naming-level gifts advancing research and clinical programs.

From the outset of her tenure, Dr. Hunt prioritized open, transparent communication, instituting monthly virtual town halls to foster unstructured dialogue across the college community. She also launched College of Medicine Week, creating a new tradition that celebrates the contributions of students, trainees, faculty and staff and strengthens connection across the college.

An internationally recognized head and neck and molecular pathologist, she brought extensive leadership experience to the interim dean role, having previously served as chief of the hospital medical staff at UF Health and chair of the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine. She also played a pivotal role in the institution’s COVID-19 response when she joined the UF community in 2020, leading efforts to rapidly ramp up viral testing at scale for the entire university. 

Prior to joining UF, she served as chair of pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she was also the chief of staff, chair of the credentials committee and chair of the professionalism committee. She also held leadership and academic roles at the University of Pittsburgh, the Cleveland Clinic and Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. The author of more than 160 peer reviewed publications, she is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists and has served in elected board roles for numerous national and state professional organizations. She is an International Coach Federation-certified executive coach with deep experience in leadership development and professionalism in health care.

We are profoundly grateful to Dr. Hunt for her steadfast leadership, service and dedication to the College of Medicine, and the legacy she leaves. As we look ahead, we are also appreciative of the college’s leadership team, which remains firmly focused on continuing to move medicine forward as we move thoughtfully toward the next phase of leadership. We are actively working to identify outstanding candidates to fill this important role and are confident these efforts will conclude in a timely manner. Additional updates will be shared as more information becomes available.

Again, please join us in thanking Dr. Hunt and in wishing her continued success in her exciting next chapter.