Harvard president Drew Faust announced on July 11 that Jeffrey Flier, the George C. Reisman professor of medicine at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been appointed the new dean of the Faculty of Medicine, effective Sept. 1.
A member of the HMS faculty since 1978, Flier has served for the past five years as chief academic officer at BID, where he also is faculty dean for academic programs. He has been closely involved in discussions on the future of Harvard-wide science as a founding member of the Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee and, previously, through his service on the University Planning Committee for Science and Engineering.
Having published more than 200 scholarly papers and reviews, Flier is internationally recognized for his investigations of the molecular mechanisms of insulin action and insulin resistance and the molecular pathophysiology of obesity. Most recently, his research group has assumed a leading position in the use of transgenic models to explore the pathophysiology of metabolic disease and in investigating the biological role of the fat-derived hormone leptin.
Flier also has been active in shaping medical education through his oversight of HMS teaching programs at BID and his involvement with the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, leading the HST course on endocrine pathophysiology.
“Jeff Flier is an outstanding academic leader, scientist, and medical educator, whose impressive experience, broad perspective, and collaborative instincts promise to guide the Harvard medical community smartly forward,” said Faust. “He enjoys broad respect among his colleagues, both for his leadership qualities and his academic accomplishments, and he combines exceptional intelligence with an admirable ability to bring people together around issues of academic and institutional importance. His outlook and experience will position him well to build on the remarkable strengths of our medical school, to strengthen cooperative efforts within the broader Harvard medical community, to pursue important new opportunities for fruitful connections with other parts of the University, and to speak more broadly to medical and health issues of national and international concern.”
“This is a superb appointment by President Faust,” said BID president Paul Levy. “Jeff Flier is an accomplished scientist, educator, clinician, and administrator. He will be a great dean, and we are so proud that he has been appointed to this important position.”
“I am deeply honored, as well as thrilled, by the opportunity afforded to me by President Faust to serve as the next dean of Harvard Medical School,” said Flier. “During the 29 years that I have pursued an extraordinarily rewarding academic life within the Harvard Medical community, I have come to know its amazing strengths, from its students to the faculty, both on the Quad and within the Harvard-affiliated hospitals and research institutions.
“This medical school is a national treasure, and while it is a humbling thought that I will now have great responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the accomplishments of HMS, this is a responsibility that I accept with great optimism and excitement.
“Joe Martin has capably set the stage for the next evolution of Harvard medicine, and I thank him and my many colleagues and friends on the faculty for their support.”
Flier succeeds Joseph Martin, who stepped down as dean on June 30 after a decade of distinguished service. Barbara McNeil, chair of health care policy, became acting dean on July 1 and will serve through the end of August.
Flier is married to Eleftheria Maratos-Flier, HMS associate professor of medicine at BID.
