The new dean of the College of Medicine is arriving in March, bringing his expertise in both business and science to the table.
Dr. Keith A. Joiner, 55, is making his way from Yale, where he is the associate chairman of the department of medicine. At the UA, he will oversee the entire medical school. He is replacing the interim dean of the College of Medicine, Dr. Kenneth Ryan, who has served since July 2002.
"The school is good now, but there is a lot of work to be done," Joiner said. "We are very small in terms of the number of faculty and size of the various departments. Many areas need a critical mass of scientists and physicians to fill the teaching roles."
With approximately 400 students enrolled in the college and 10 more expected next year, more teachers will be needed to accommodate the growing number of students.
At Yale, Joiner is the director of Yale's Investigative Medicine Program, which provides clinical or laboratory research for doctoral training.
Joiner has a specialty research focus on the parasites that cause a certain type of infection in AIDS patients and also a parasite that causes malaria.
Some students look forward to Joiner's expertise in research and hope to see more professors come to the UA, making research more of a possibility.
"I think that research is a very important part of the program," said Karin Pohlman, psychology senior and research assistant. "A balance between research and instruction would definitely be a good thing to be implemented."
Joiner said he also wants to improve coordination among the 19 departments he will be overseeing.
A number of students agree with Joiner, wanting more communication in the college.
"I'd like to see him implement more collaboration between schools here," said Miki Ota, a pharmacy graduate student.
By focusing on the strong points of the medical program, such as cancer and heart disease, Joiner feels that the college can become stronger.
"The medical school is still very young and has the potential to evolve and become a truly incredible institution," Joiner said. "I am poised to really expand on this because it is easier to build on a strength."
Joiner earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Chicago in 1970 and his doctorate degree from the University of Colorado in 1974. He received an master's in business administration from Yale in 2003, specializing in health policy and administration.
"I am really excited to have him come here," Pohlman said. "I was impressed that they got him to come from Yale to here, and I'm excited to see what he's going to do based on his background."
Joiner said that the most important thing is for the faculty work together in order to improve the college.
"I want to come up in conjunction with faculty and determine where improvements are needed most," Joiner said. "The most important things of all is that the faculty has input and we decide jointly."
Joiner, who will earn $360,000 a year, is looking forward to returning to the West.
"Going out there really feels like going home," he said.