New School of Medicine Dean
May 14, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that we have named Dr. Michael B. Hocker as the new dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine. He starts his new role June 28.
Dr. Hocker holds the J. Harold Harrison MD Distinguished Chair in Emergency Medicine and currently serves as the senior associate dean and designated institutional official (DIO) for graduate medical education at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University. In that role, Dr. Hocker oversees 51 residency and fellowship programs. Previously, he served as the Vice-Chair of Operations for Emergency Medicine and assistant DIO for graduate medical education.
Prior to joining MCG, Dr. Hocker spent 14 years at Duke University School of Medicine, where he helped start what is now considered one of the country’s top emergency medicine training programs. He also earned a Master of Health Science in Clinical Leadership from Duke. In 2016, the Duke Division of Emergency Medicine honored his leadership with the naming of the Michael B. Hocker, MD, Duke Emergency Medicine Division Leadership and Service Award.
Dr. Hocker, a former Navy flight surgeon, graduated from Ft. Lewis College and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His mother Jean and stepfather Richard currently live in Harlingen.
We were fortunate to have a very large and diverse pool of candidates for the dean’s position. Dr. Hocker stood out from the pool because of the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the operations of a medical school and his experience with both clinical operations and medical education.
Dr. Hocker had the following message for his future students and colleagues:
I am honored to be selected as Dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine and excited to be joining a fantastic group of students, faculty, and staff.
My family and I are excited to be joining the UTRGV community and look forward to calling South Texas home.
This role is a unique opportunity to lead an evolving medical school, foster its growth and support its critical mission to improve the health of the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, and beyond. The UTRGV-SOM will accomplish this mission through innovative educational programs, high-quality clinical care, and life and disease-changing discovery.
I welcome the opportunity to work closely with the Rio Grande Valley community leaders and clinical partners to improve access to care, reduce health disparities, and train the next generation of physicians and leaders in medicine.
As we wrap up this hiring process, please join me in thanking our search committee, composed of representatives from the university, hospital partners and the community at-large, for their tireless work the last several months.
Lastly, as I’ve mentioned before, we also owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr. John Krouse, who announced last year that he is stepping down from his administrative posts at the end of August 2021. He has made significant contributions over the last four years to the School of Medicine, UT Health RGV and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sincerely,
Guy Bailey
UTRGV President