Krugman, dean of Colorado medical school, to step down

Dr. Richard Krugman, University of Colorado vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is stepping down from his posts, asking the university to begin the search process to hire a successor.

Krugman, whom the university called the longest-serving dean of a U.S. medical school, became dean of the school of medicine March 1, 1992, after serving as acting dean for 20 months. He had completed his residency at the school in 1973, and in 1981, became director of the C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The center is on the medical school campus.

Krugman, 71, announced his decision in a weekly e-mail to the campus Monday after informing department heads of his decision Sunday night, a medical school spokesman said. He came to the School of Medicine in July 1968 as an intern in pediatrics.

“Dr. Krugman is an outstanding colleague, a valued administrator and a treasured friend,” Don Elliman, chancellor at the University of Colorado at Denver, and Lilly Marks, University of Colorado VP for health affairs and executive vice chancellor of the Anschutz Medical Campus, said in a statement.

“His passionate and effective leadership has helped build one of the premier centers of academic medicine in the country, a school that consistently ranks among the top 10 public medical schools in grants from the National Institutes of Health and is a leader in research, learning and clinical care.”

Krugman will remain on the faculty and plans to pursue projects in the pediatrics department and the Kempe Center.

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