SUNY Board Appoints Dr. John F. Williams as President of Downstate Medical Center

New York City – The State University of New York Board of Trustees today appointed Dr. John F. Williams president of Downstate Medical Center for a term that begins on or about August 20, 2012, and ends August 20, 2014. Dr. Williams is currently Senior Vice President of Verras Health Care International.

Dr. Williams will succeed Dr. Ian Taylor, who has assumed the role of Officer-in-Charge since the resignation of Dr. John LaRosa in June 2012. Dr. Taylor will resume his post as Downstate's Senior Vice President for Biomedical Education and Research and Dean of the College of Medicine.

SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman H. Carl McCall and Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher thanked Dr. Taylor for his service and commended Dr. LaRosa on an esteemed 13-year tenure at Downstate.

“On behalf of the Board, it is my great honor to welcome Dr. Williams to the SUNY family,” said Chairman McCall. “With his extensive experience at The George Washington University and its own medical center, Dr. Williams is precisely the person we have been looking for to lead Downstate through its financial restructuring while maintaining its impeccable service to the Brooklyn community and all of New York State.”

“Dr. Williams brings vast experience, intricate knowledge, and proven leadership to SUNY and to Downstate Medical Center,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “As a major supplier of the state’s health care professionals, Downstate fulfills critical academic and health care needs in New York, and Dr. Williams’ appointment as president will go a long way toward ensuring that those needs continue to be met.”

“I look forward to joining the Downstate team and I am grateful to Chancellor Zimpher and the SUNY Board for their confidence in my ability to lead such an acclaimed and important healthcare institution,” said Dr. Williams.

About Dr. John F. Williams

Dr. Williams presently serves as Senior Vice President of Verras Health Care International. Dr. William’s has served in various capacities at George Washington University and its medical center since 1997.

He was senior vice provost and vice president for Health Affairs at the medical center from June 2010 to January 2011; and vice president for Health Affairs and Bloedorn professor of Administrative Medicine from November 1997 to December 2011.

At The George Washington University, he served as university provost and vice president for Health Affairs, from January 2003 to July 2010; and dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences from August 1999 to June 2003.

Dr. Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Boston University in 1970, a Master of Science at The London School of Economics and Political Science in 1973, a Master of Public Health from Yale University in 1975, and Doctorates of Medicine (1979) and Education (1996) from The George Washington University.

As president of Downstate Medical Center, Dr. Williams will receive an annual state salary of $350,000, and annual compensation from other Downstate affiliated organizations in the amount of $300,000. Downstate Medical Center will also either provide Dr. Williams with temporary housing or cover his actual and reasonable housing costs, not to exceed $80,000 annually, and provide him with use of a campus vehicle as needed.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 468,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with nearly 3 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.