Steve Stadum, a former longtime top executive of Oregon Health & Science University, has been tabbed as the institution’s interim president pending a national search to fill the role on a longer-term basis.
The announcement issued by Gov. Tina Kotek’s office Friday answers a question posed by the board’s abrupt reversal last week of its stated intent to appoint Dr. Nate Selden, dean of the OHSU School of Medicine and neurological surgery professor, as its permanent president in the wake of the sudden resignation of President Danny Jacobs.
After the board announced its intent to appoint Selden to a three-year contract, Kotek issued a public statement urging the university to pause its process, and the board promptly did so.
In her announcement of the board's intent to appoint Stadum, a Kotek statement called OHSU “a critical institution to our state,” adding that “a strong, collaborative, leader is imperative to OHSU’s success, and I commend the Board for embarking on a national recruitment for the next long-term president.”
For now, the position will be held by Stadum, who worked at OHSU in a variety of top roles over the course of 17 years before leaving in 2016 to join the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. There, he held the positions of executive vice president and chief operating officer, among others, before retiring in September.
OHSU is a quasi-independent arm of Oregon state government, and its board is appointed by the governor’s office. According to the announcement issued by Kotek’s office, her staff assigned to executive appointments will assist OHSU as it assembles a search committee to recruit candidates to fill the role permanently.
