Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) today announced that Paul B. Rothman, M.D., dean of the medical faculty for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, will retire from his position effective July 1.

The institution is pleased to announce that Theodore DeWeese, M.D., vice dean for clinical affairs and president of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Practice Association, has agreed to serve as interim dean and CEO.

“I have long envisioned myself as a ten-year dean/CEO,” Rothman wrote in a message to the JHM community this morning. “A decade felt like the right time horizon to help advance the missions of JHM. That vision was crystallized by the COVID-19 pandemic, which demanded so much of our institution and our community. Two years later, I believe that we have navigated the worst of the pandemic, and it is time for a new leader to guide us forward.”

Rothman’s retirement caps more than a decade of exceptional service to the JHM community.

“A consummate clinician-scientist who brings passion and humanity to all he does, Paul has led Johns Hopkins Medicine through a remarkable decade as it continued its pre-eminence in education, discovery and patient care, and served as the world’s most trusted provider of scientific knowledge and healthcare during the COVID pandemic,” said Ronald Daniels, president of The Johns Hopkins University.

During Rothman’s tenure, Johns Hopkins Medicine made important investments in the Johns Hopkins community:

• Adding the Office of Well-Being and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
• Establishing a clinical promotion track to celebrate the clinical excellence of Johns Hopkins faculty along with clinical awards to recognize outstanding providers
• Investing in digital infrastructure enabling Johns Hopkins to lead the way into the era of big data medicine and precision medicine
• Securing record levels of external grant funding and producing a steady stream of discoveries and innovations that have received innumerable awards and widespread recognition
• Developing physical infrastructure to support the academic health center of the future with the opening of new hospital buildings at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital; the addition of Greenspring Station Pavilion 3; and the development of new research facilities in East Baltimore

The institution will also soon announce a major initiative to minimize debt for medical students to ensure that the best and brightest continue to train at Johns Hopkins.

“Dr. Rothman has been central to furthering JHM’s reputation as a peerless academic medical center that delivers exceptional medical education, high-quality care and esteemed clinical research,” says chairman of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Board of Trustees Bill Conway. “As we offer our profound thanks to Dr. Rothman for his many years of service, we also look ahead to a continuing our legacy of excellence for generations to come.”