Robert M. Craft, MD, a native of East Tennessee and an alumnus of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has been named dean of the UTHSC College of Medicine in Knoxville.
Dean Craft has served since October 2022 as the interim dean of the College of Medicine in Knoxville and the senior vice president and chief academic officer for the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC), one of UTHSC’s key partner teaching hospitals. Dean Craft completed his residency at UTMC in 1993, and joined the faculty of the College of Medicine in Knoxville in 1994 as an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, after a fellowship in neuroanesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic. He was promoted to professor, and also served as the department’s vice chair, residency program director, and chair. A native of Kingsport, he grew up in Memphis, and is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
“I’m very committed to this campus, UTHSC, and the UT System as a whole,” Dean Craft said. “I’ve been a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Medical Center for 29 years and I spent a year in medical school, as well as four years of residency here, so that adds up to more than half my life.” His fellowship was his only time living outside of Tennessee, he said.
Dean Craft said he will focus on growing the College of Medicine in Knoxville to help meet the shortage of physicians predicted for Tennessee. “Growth is the bottom line in order to ensure physician-led care for our region,” he said. This would include expansion of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs that direct residencies and fellowships, as well as expansion of educational opportunities for medical students (Undergraduate Medical Education or UME). He also aims to increase the research enterprise on the campus, which is integral to the education missions.
Read more at our UTHSC news site.