After more than a decade as president of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC), on Dec. 31, 2022, Richard G. Bennett, Med ’82, will retire. For the next six months, he will move into the role of special advisor to the president of Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). Jennifer Nickoles, who currently serves as vice president of system integration and affiliations for JHHS, will serve as Johns Hopkins Bayview’s interim president.

A Baltimore native, Rick received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and economics from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He came to Hopkins in 1978, arriving on campus as a medical student. After graduating from medical school, he began an internship at what was then Baltimore City Hospitals (now JHBMC). Influenced by his family’s ownership of a small nursing home business, after completing his residency at the hospital, he pursued a fellowship in geriatric medicine and gerontology at Hopkins. With the National Institute on Aging located on Bayview’s campus, he had ready access to world-class experts and resources to support his pursuits in the field. With a focus on the research leg of our tripartite mission, from 1990–2002, he served as a guest researcher at the National Institute on Aging’s Laboratory of Clinical Immunology.

With experience gained as the executive medical director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Center, in 1994, he was named as JHBMC’s director for long-term care. Thus, he began his rise through the leadership ranks at JHBMC. In tandem, he also continued to teach, and served as the principal investigator for the geriatrics NIH T-32 training grant. Through the years, he would work his way up the ladder from instructor to being named the Raymond and Anna Lublin Professor in Geriatric Medicine in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As his career evolved, he took on many roles, including several with Johns Hopkins Health Plans. He first served as associate medical director before becoming medical director and then chief medical officer. These experiences positioned him to return to Bayview in 2003 as the vice president of medical affairs. There, he became senior vice president before taking on the post of executive vice president and chief operating officer. Then, in 2009, he was appointed as Johns Hopkins Bayview’s president. 

Rick has been a part of the leadership team on the campus for almost 30 years. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked with hospital and faculty leaders to transform Bayview’s physical and academic environment. Starting almost 20 years ago when he became JHBMC’s vice president of medical affairs, he began to advocate for completing the modernization of the hospital’s infrastructure. 

He writes, “As I step out of this role, I remain committed to helping Bayview and Johns Hopkins in any ways that I can into the future. I look forward to hearing of future Bayview successes from many of you as you work to improve patient care, train future health care leaders, and advance knowledge to improve human health. … Finally, I want to share my great admiration and affection for all of you that are committed to Bayview, the mission of Johns Hopkins, and the patients we serve. It has been a privilege and honor to work with you for so many years.”