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LINCOLN — Dr. H. Dele Davies could soon be the next permanent chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, pending a 30-day review and likely future vote of the NU Board of Regents.
The University of Nebraska system announced Davies on Wednesday as the “priority candidate” for chancellor. Under state law, NU names one priority candidate for a 30-day public vetting period, after which the NU board can vote to confirm the person.
Davies has served as interim UNMC chancellor since Gold became president in July 2024. Davies said Wednesday he was honored to be selected and looks forward to engaging with the community.
“UNMC is an extraordinary academic health center because of our people, and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our faculty, staff, students, Nebraska communities and all those who depend on us,” Davies said in a statement. “I firmly believe our best work is ahead of us, and we will get there together.”
The vetting period will include public sessions at UNMC’s Omaha campus, as well as visits in Lincoln, Kearney, Norfolk and Scottsbluff.
Gold previously served 10 years as UNMC chancellor and described Davies as a “thoughtful and strategic leader, an accomplished researcher, an incredible physician and someone I’ve been proud to work alongside for more than a decade.”
“During his time at UNMC, he has repeatedly demonstrated a deep commitment to students, patients and communities across Nebraska,” Gold said in a statement. “I commend the search committee for their work in identifying such a strong and experienced candidate.”
NU first opened the search to internal candidates and included an advisory committee with representatives from UNMC, Nebraska Medicine, the other three NU campuses and community members. David Jackson, NU’s chief academic officer, chaired the committee, which was assisted by executive search firm CarterBaldwin.
Davies joined UNMC as vice chancellor and dean of graduate studies in 2012. In 2017, he became senior vice chancellor, which included direct oversight of all UNMC colleges and a health sciences library. He was previously a professor and chair of Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, Pediatrics and Human Development and a previous director of the Child Health Research Unit at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Canada, and the Child Health Research Institute at the University of Calgary.
He is specialty-trained in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and is a past fellow of the Academic Leadership Program.
Davies earned his medical degree from the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He earned a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Toronto Dana Lana School of Public Health and a master’s degree in health care management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
The interim chancellor also took a frontline role in championing the decision of NU leaders and the NU Board of Regents to buy out Clarkson Regional Health Services’s 50% stake in nonprofit Nebraska Medicine, the hospital, clinical and medical services partner to UNMC.
Davies in January said UNMC and Nebraska Medicine “are already virtually the same organization and cannot afford to be divided.” He has echoed those sentiments since.
The $800 million deal, plus a $200 million return investment from Clarkson to NU, was announced Jan. 2 and finalized Jan. 15.
The former members of the Nebraska Medicine Board protested the change, and NU leaders and Nebraska Medicine leaders clashed at times. Once the regents moved forward with the deal, institutional leaders at NU and Clarkson, including Gold and Clarkson CEO Dr. Bill Lydiatt, removed most of the Nebraska Medicine board and appointed themselves. Davies became board chair.
The shakeup ended a short-lived lawsuit from Nebraska Medicine board members against NU.
Since January, Davies, Gold and other leaders from Nebraska Medicine and NU say they have sought to rebuild trust and chart a new path forward. Some candidates for the Board of Regents this year have cited the NU-Clarkson deal as a reason for increased transparency and public engagement.
NU Regent Paul Kenney, chair of the board, also praised Davies on Wednesday.
“Dr. Davies has brought a wealth of experience, both at UNMC and at other top medical schools, to the interim chancellor position,” Kenney said. “He has done a wonderful job in the interim role, and I am confident he is the right person to lead UNMC in the years ahead.”
The regents are next scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. June 18 in Lincoln.
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