Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine

About the Role

The University of Florida seeks a proven leader with demonstrated vision and the ability to achieve results that support and enhance the university’s educational, research, and public service mission. This position requires a bold vision of the future role of academic veterinary medicine in a global society. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential, as is the ability to be collaborative, impartial, and able to distill complex issues and make sound judgments and recommendations on sensitive and sometimes confidential matters.

The Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine establishes the strategic vision and leads the College in pursuit of its goals to provide a high-quality environment for teaching, learning, research, outreach, and clinical service. The College is connected to two University of Florida administrative units, with funding and reporting structures to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and UF Health, the university’s academic health center.

Responsibilities

• Develop a clear vision and strategy consistent with the university’s land-grant mission and best practices.
• Support excellence in veterinary scholarship and sustained collaborative biomedical and clinical/translational research.
• Champion innovative approaches to veterinary professional education and graduate training.
• Lead the College to achieve excellence in teaching, research, and outreach in support of land-grant university missions.
• Foster interdisciplinary activities and strategic thinking at the senior administrative level.
• Engage effectively with diverse audiences, serving as an articulate and proactive spokesperson for the university.
• Build and maintain collaborative activities locally, nationally, and internationally with alumni, veterinary professional organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Drive advancement and fundraising efforts to promote the College’s missions.
• Demonstrate effectiveness in planning, administration, personnel, and fiscal management.
• Recruit, retain, and mentor outstanding faculty and staff, fostering growth and change in people and programs.
• Promote well-being, resilience, and a healthy work environment across the academic community.
• Lead the College’s commitment to a learning health care system integrating real-world data, AI, and clinical records to guide predictive, personalized care.
• Advance comparative medicine by integrating research from animal and human models, focusing on neurophysiology, immunology, and infectious disease.
• Safeguard healthy populations and environments, particularly addressing zoonotic diseases and toxicity in Florida’s biodiverse ecosystems.
• Oversee the College’s research portfolio, emphasizing team science, One Health, and cutting-edge technology.
• Manage the UF Veterinary Hospitals, a major regional referral center treating over 70,000 small and large animals annually.
• Expand outreach through the Veterinary Extension Service, providing care and education for agricultural interests.

Requirements

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent.
• Distinguished record of visionary leadership, research/scholarly accomplishments, and excellence in academic administration.
• Demonstrated successful leadership in veterinary medical education.
• Commitment to high-impact translational research.
• Experience in planning, administration, personnel, and fiscal management.
• Successful experience or demonstrated potential in fundraising, development activities, and industry collaboration.
• Record of accomplishment in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty.
• Ability to build, lead, mentor, and motivate staff, encouraging change and growth in programs.
• Strong commitment to personal and professional development, fostering a robust, multidisciplinary, and collaborative team.

About the College of Veterinary Medicine

The UF College of Veterinary Medicine is the fifth highest-ranked U.S. veterinary college and a leader in veterinary education, research, and clinical services. The College offers a professional veterinary medical degree (D.V.M.) and ten graduate degree programs, along with special interest certificate programs in Aquatic Animal Health, Veterinary Business Management, Food Animal Veterinary Medicine, and Shelter Medicine.

The veterinary medical curriculum is highly innovative, providing early exposure to technical and clinical skills through a state-of-the-art clinical skills lab. D.V.M. graduates consistently rank above the national average on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination, with 3,000 applications received annually for 150 openings.

The College is pioneering a learning health care system powered by real-world data and artificial intelligence, integrating clinical records, diagnostics, wearable sensors, imaging, and farm data to guide predictive, personalized care. Through UF’s AI initiative, clinicians and scientists are advancing veterinary data science to diagnose pain, personalize treatment plans, and protect animal health and economic stability through early illness detection in livestock.

Key priorities include advancing comparative medicine, broadening impact in neurophysiology, immunology, and infectious disease, and safeguarding Florida’s biodiversity from zoonotic diseases and toxicity. A $1 million upgrade to the Equine Performance Lab in 2025 will enhance research on racehorse performance, impacting Florida’s $12.8 billion equine industry.

The UF Veterinary Hospitals serve as a major regional referral center, treating over 70,000 small and large animals annually. The small animal caseload is the largest in the nation among veterinary medical teaching hospitals. The College is also a leader in disaster response, training in animal rescue, and was the first to use synthetic canine cadavers in student surgery labs.

The College houses the Center for Inflammation and Mucosal Immunology (CIMI), a hub for interdisciplinary research advancing the understanding of inflammation and mucosal immunity.

About UF Health

UF Health is the University of Florida’s academic health center and the only one in the country with six health-related colleges located on a single, contiguous campus: Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health Professions, and Veterinary Medicine. The colleges, research centers, and clinical enterprise focus on collaborative, specialized clinical services centered on quality and innovation.

UF Health generates 52% of UF’s total research awards and includes seven major health-related research centers designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Research activities emphasize the translational nature of biomedical research, spanning fundamental research to clinical care.

The Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs and President of UF Health provides leadership and support to all health colleges, centers, and institutes, with administrative units including Academic and Administrative Affairs, UF Health Communications, Finance and Planning, Libraries, Information Services & Technology, and the Student Health Care Center. UF Health operates on two primary campuses in Gainesville and Jacksonville, with numerous affiliates across the state.

About the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS)

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences. IFAS extends into every Florida community and has an international reputation for teaching, research, and Extension.

UF/IFAS comprises three main units: the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), UF/IFAS Research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station), and UF/IFAS Extension (with offices in all 67 Florida counties). CALS offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in over 20 disciplines and is one of the largest and most comprehensive colleges of its type nationwide.