UA Names Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona to Lead Campus Reentry Plan

University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins has appointed the 17th Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Richard Carmona, Pima County Medical Society member, to lead the university’s campus Reentry Task Force. As director of the task force, Dr. Carmona will head the development and execution of a return-to-campus plan for fall 2020.

In addition to being widely known as the 17th surgeon general of the United States, Dr. Carmona currently serves as a distinguished professor of public health at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. He also holds dual roles as a professor of surgery at the College of Medicine and a professor at the College of Pharmacy, with more than 35 years on the faculty at the University of Arizona. Dr. Carmona is a physician, Vietnam veteran, and a former paramedic, nurse, deputy sheriff and public health administrator.

Dr. Carmona will report directly to Dr. Robbins, who is a cardiothoracic surgeon, has worked for the National Institutes of Health, is the founding director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and is the former head of the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex. The campus Reentry Task Force will integrate and be informed by the ongoing reentry activities led by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Liesl Folks, Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation Betsy Cantwell and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences Dr. Michael Dake.

“Dr. Carmona has an incredible wealth of experience that includes serving as the chief public health officer in the country, and he will take immediate charge of leading this campus community through our reentry process,” Dr. Robbins said. “Dr. Carmona has been entrenched in our campus for decades and we are fortunate to have his expertise in our mix. He has unique experience and is fully invested in bringing our Wildcat family back.”

Click here to read the full story.