Lisa Tedesco, vice president and secretary of the University, will leave her position and resume her research and teaching in February 2005.
After stepping down, Tedesco will take a year-long sabbatical from the University and become a visiting fellow at the Center for Community Health Partnerships at the Columbia University Medical Center. She will also be a visiting professor at the Columbia School of Dentistry and Oral Surgery.
Tedesco will return to the University in one year as a professor.
“After my sabbatical, I want to return as a productive, interdisciplinary colleague,” she said. “I will miss seeing the University from the viewpoint (of vice president and secretary), but work as a faculty member is a wonderful, fine endeavour.”
University President Mary Sue Coleman said Tedesco will work with the Board of Regents to find a successor. The details of the process have not yet been worked out, University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
As vice president and secretary of the University, Tedesco is the official liaison to the Regents. Tedesco manages communication matters for the board.
At Columbia, Tedesco will join Allan Formicola, director of the Center and vice dean for Community Health Partnerships, with whom she has worked before.
“We are looking forward with enthusiasm to having Dr. Tedesco join us as
a visiting professor,” Formicola said in a written statement. “Dr. Tedesco’s fine accomplishments and strong leadership skills fit in perfectly with the goals and initiatives of the center. She will expand and enrich our programs.”
During her time at Columbia, Tedesco said she hopes to continue her teaching and research on diversity in the health professions.
“I think this is a great way to take a sabbatical,” Tedesco said. “There are so many things I can bring back that would be of great benefit to our health professional school.”
University Regent Rebecca McGowan said in a written statement that Tedesco has done an exemparly job.
“Lisa has certainly set the gold standard for the position of vice president and secretary of the University,” McGowan said. “The members of the Board have relied on her sagacity, her understanding of this University and her incredible work ethic for seven very full years,” she said.
The Center for Community Health Partnerships at Columbia School of Dentistry and Oral Surgery focuses on improving equitable health care by addressing several issues, including problems of the uninsured and underinsured in northern Manhattan, providing direct medical and dental services to the elderly in Harlem, conducting research and developing community partnerships aimed at improving the health of Latinos and blacks, increasing the cultural competency of health care professionals and by offering technical assistance to 15 dental schools to increase access to oral health care services and access to careers in dentistry for underrepresented minority students.