Meet the Chancellor

Jeffrey P. Gold, MD

Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, is a nationally recognized leader and tireless advocate for transforming higher education, academic medicine and health care delivery across the public and private higher education spectrum.

He became the eighth chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, vice president of the University of Nebraska System and chair of the board of UNMC’s principal clinical care academic health system partner, Nebraska Medicine, in early 2014. 

In July 2021, Dr. Gold also was named provost and executive vice president of the University of Nebraska System, in addition to his ongoing UNMC/Nebraska Medicine responsibilities. In this role, Dr. Gold is the chief academic officer of the University of Nebraska System of approximately 50,000 learners, over $750 million of research and liaison to the Board of Regents for all aspects of academic affairs..

As UNMC’s chief executive officer, Dr. Gold is responsible for all aspects of campus leadership, program quality and operations, including seven colleges, two degree-granting institutes, the entire professional staff and faculty of more than 6,000 and 4,700 health professions students. Additionally, Nebraska Medicine has more than 8,500 employees and an operating budget of more than $2.3 billion.

The combined annual economic impact of the “500-mile campus” academic health center with 37 Centers of Excellence exceeds $6.4 billion and employs more than 52,000. During this time, the UNMC enrollment has grown by just more than 43%, the sponsored research programs by more than 300% and the clinical programs by more than 150%.

In his systemwide roles as provost and executive vice president, Dr. Gold oversees all undergraduate, graduate and professional academic education, research and experiential programs as well as the student support areas for the University of Nebraska system campuses, approximately 50,000 students, more than $750 million in research and a combined economic impact of over $10 billion.

From May 2017 to June 2021, Dr. Gold also served as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Omaha, the state’s only public metropolitan university and its most diverse campus. The UNO complex has seven thriving colleges, an enrollment of more than 13,000 undergraduate students, 3,000 graduate students, a broad public service mission and two NCAA Division I-A athletic programs. Following more than four highly successful years of growth and prominence at UNO, in 2021, he stepped down to assume the University of Nebraska System provost and executive vice president responsibilities across all undergraduate, graduate and professional programs.

Dr. Gold holds a tenured faculty appointment at the rank of professor in the UNMC College of Medicine, as well as in the UNMC College of Public Health, where his active research interests in health care policy, population health and epidemiology are concentrated. He also leads several key economic development boards for the state and the university system, including the Greater Omaha Chamber, University Technology Development Corp,  the University Technology Transfer Corp, Nebraska Enterprises Corp, UNeTecH Corp, and several others. 

Prior to joining UNMC, Dr. Gold served as chancellor of the University of Toledo’s academic and clinical health sciences, which includes the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Science and Human Service, and Graduate Studies. In that role, Dr. Gold had full leadership responsibility of the clinical, education and research programs, the faculty practice plan and the integrated hospital and ambulatory health care delivery system.

From 1995 through 2005, Dr. Gold served in academic and clinical leadership roles at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as professor, department chair and heart center director, and previously at the Weill Cornell College of Medicine – New York Presbyterian Medical Center as professor and division chief of children’s cardiac surgery programs where he was an active academic cardiac surgeon. His research has been extramurally supported for decades, including by the NIH, AHA, AMA, NYSDOH and others.

Dr. Gold is a proud graduate of the Cornell University College of Engineering, where he received a degree in theoretical and applied mechanics. He earned his MD from the Weill Cornell College of Medicine and completed his general surgery residency at The New York – Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he later served as the administrative chief resident. He completed his cardiothoracic surgical fellowship training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital with additional training in pediatric cardiac surgery at the Boston Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Gold has been certified by the American Board of Surgery and by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, specializing in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery. He is licensed in Nebraska, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Gold's national leadership is extensive, and has included more than 50 national professional committees and more than 100 national organizations, volunteer boards, government/public health councils, and industry.  He has served as chair of the American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Education and the AMA/AAMC’s Liaison Committee on Medical Education. He is a member of the AMA House of Delegates. Dr. Gold has also served in numerous roles on governing boards and as the elected leader of regional and national professional, accreditation and advocacy organizations in the educational, research and clinical care delivery sectors as well as serving in museum, symphony, and collegiate athletic board level leadership roles. 

His lifelong focus on the arts and humanities has resulted in the birth of vibrant undergraduate and graduate Medical Humanities programs and a nationally regarded Healing Arts program, including extensive components of music, poetry and graphic arts, featuring the Chihuly Sanctuary, a magnificent chapel-like environment created by the renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. At UNO, he stewarded the Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs as well as the Samuel Bak Learning Center and Museum, featuring the work of the holocaust survivor child prodigy and highly regarded artist, Mr. Samuel Bak and the National Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

He has worked extensively with national- and state-level elected and appointed governing and administrative bodies as an advisor, advocate and trusted resource in the areas of higher education, research and clinical care. He continues to be highly engaged in these areas in the public sector, including the US Congress, as well as with the regional and national private philanthropic and corporate sectors. In these roles, he is a highly sought thought leader at all levels of federal, state and local government, higher education, academic health care and public policy. He is a highly regarded keynote public speaker based upon his extensive experience and respected judgment in the areas of higher education, academic medicine, leadership development and philanthropy.

Dr. Gold has recently completed service as board chair of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, as well as currently serving in several other national leadership positions in the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and other prestigious organizations. In addition, he served as chair of the AMA Council on Medical Education, president of the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association and as a director of the Board of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He was recently inducted into the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators by the American College of Surgeons, the highest recognition among the American surgeons.

Dr. Gold serves on several key National Academy of Science, Engineering & Medicine steering committees, including the Clinician Wellbeing Taskforce, the COVID-19 Taskforce and the All Hazard 21st Century Threats Taskforce. He has been very active on the national level in multiple educational, research and clinical COVID-19 pandemic response, with hundreds of educational and media appearances, webinars, congressional/departmental/agency hearings and briefings. These media appearances include a weekly live hour-long national broadcast as host, a weekly regional NCN live broadcast and biweekly national CNN and FOX appearances. He was awarded the Greater Omaha “Volunteer of the Year” in 2021. 

He has been repeatedly recognized as a Top 50 Health Care Executive and as a Top 100 Physician Executive, as well many national awards for service leading numerous community volunteer programs, philanthropic campaigns and programs. He continues his research interests actively with ongoing publications and presentations and continues to serve several journal editorial boards. Dr. Gold has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 350 national presentations, 40 books and chapters and more than 300 invited professorships and keynote presentations. He is continually contributing to the scientific literature as well as a constant media contributor.

He has been married for more than 45 years to a physician and has two adult children, currently residing in New York and Chicago, as well as twin grandchildren.

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