Chancellor Zimpher Appoints Dr. Ian Taylor Officer-In-Charge of Downstate Medical Center

Brooklyn – State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced that she has appointed Dr. Ian Taylor as officer-in-charge of Downstate Medical Center, following President John C. LaRosa’s announcement that he is stepping down.

Dr. Taylor is currently Senior Vice President for Biomedical Education and Research and Dean of the College of Medicine at Downstate, a position he has held since 2006, and will continue to hold both during and after his service as officer-in-charge.

“Dr. Taylor’s familiarity with Downstate Medical Center’s general operations, educational offerings, and clinical services makes him well-suited to take on this additional responsibility while a search for a presidential candidate commences,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “I am confident that Dr. Taylor will provide excellent leadership for Downstate in the interim.”

With oversight by the Chancellor, Taylor will work alongside University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) Chief Executive Officer Debra Carey and Chief Financial Officers David Ho and Alan Dzija to continue Downstate operations and support the organization’s financial restructuring.

Dr. Taylor said, “I am humbled to have been named officer-in-charge of Downstate Medical Center during this critical time. I look forward to working with Chancellor Zimpher, the Board of Trustees, and my colleagues at Downstate over the next several months, as we work to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality medical care to our patients and top-notch educational services to our students.”

A native of Liverpool, England and a graduate of the medical school there, Taylor was Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine at Tulane University before coming to Downstate in 2006. Prior to that, he was chairman of the Department of Medicine and President of the University Medical Associates at the Medical University of South Carolina; and prior to that, director of the Division of Gastroenterology at Duke University. He has been actively involved in both basic and clinical research for most of his career.

Chancellor Zimpher added, “On behalf of the SUNY System, I want to thank Dr. LaRosa for his many years of dedicated service to SUNY. His educational and clinical contributions provided great benefit to Downstate’s students, employees, and patients.”

During President LaRosa’s 13-year tenure, educational programming at Downstate was expanded to include Master and Doctoral degrees in Public Health, an accelerated baccalaureate Nursing degree, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. He also oversaw the creation of essential clinical services, including cardiovascular and cardiothoracic programs, a Clinical Neurosciences Center, and services for women and children, including a renovated labor and delivery suite and a new neonatal intensive care unit. After the year’s leave granted to all SUNY Presidents, Dr. LaRosa plans to return to his faculty duties and continue his scholastic career in medical education.

About Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing and Health Related Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and an Advanced Biotechnology Park and Biotechnology Incubator.

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.