March 19, 2018

Henri R. Ford, M.D., Named Dean of the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

Dear University of Miami Community,

We enthusiastically announce that Henri R. Ford, M.D., has been named dean of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. He will join us on June 1. 

Dr. Ford is a Haitian-born pediatric surgeon who maintains close ties with his native country. In 2010 he traveled to Haiti after the earthquake to provide surgical care to children injured in the catastrophe. Since then, Dr. Ford has returned to Haiti regularly to provide medical care to its residents. In May 2015, he performed the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Haiti, telling CBS News that it was “extremely gratifying” to be able to perform the operation in his home country alongside Haitian surgeons he helped train.

He is currently the senior vice president and chief of surgery at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), vice dean of medical education, and professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Dr. Ford was professor and chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine prior to joining CHLA in January 2005.

Motivated by a deep desire to have a positive impact on the world and drive important change, Dr. Ford has achieved unprecedented success throughout his career. He has conducted groundbreaking research on the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis, the most common and lethal disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract of newborn infants. His work has led to new insights into the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this vexing disease. Under his leadership, CHLA has developed a robust, state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgery program.

Dr. Ford’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, the National Trauma Registry for Children and the American College of Surgeons, among others. He is the author of more than 300 publications, book chapters, invited manuscripts, abstracts, and presentations.

Dr. Ford is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons (England), the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

He received his bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs, cum laude, from Princeton University, and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He also received his M.H.A. (Master of Health Administration) degree from the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

He is highly valued by his colleagues for his vision, passion, expertise, and leadership. We are confident that Dr. Ford will be an incredible partner in pursuing our mission to become a truly preeminent academic health system and medical school for the 21st century. In the coming months you will have a chance to meet Dr. Ford and hear more about his ideas to advance the Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Ford will join us in Miami with his wife, Donna, and two children, Arielle and Alex. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ford and welcoming him to the University of Miami team.