Announcing Georgetown’s New Dean for Medical Education

March 30, 2021

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

It is my pleasure to share with you that Leon “Lee” Jones, MD, will join our Georgetown University School of Medicine as the new Dean for Medical Education. Dr. Jones currently serves as Associate Dean for Students and Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. He will begin as Dean for Medical Education and Professor of Psychiatry on August 1, 2021.

Dr. Jones is a national leader in efforts to advance equity and inclusion at medical schools in the United States. He has led extensive work in developing evidence-based policy, initiatives, and educational programs with a focus on medical school admissions, diversity, student support and learning environment, and student financial assistance. A member of Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Board of Directors, he currently chairs the AAMC Task Force on Redesign of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) and serves as AAMC’s representative to the Coalition for Physician Accountability. He is past chair of the AAMC’s Group on Student Affairs National Steering Committee.

Dr. Jones brings more than 25 years of experience in medical education to his new role. Previously, he has served as associate dean for students at the medical schools of University of California Davis, University of Arizona, University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio, and UCSF. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including induction in the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Achievement and Leadership Award, an AAMC Group on Student Affairs Exemplary Service Award, among others.

Dr. Jones has served as a national leader on medical education and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as for the Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians diversity initiative. In addition, he has been an active participant in educational initiatives designed to enhance care of LGBTQI+ patients.

Dr. Jones holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is a board-certified psychiatrist. After a psychiatry residency and chief residency at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, he completed a consultation-liaison fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, and a research fellowship at UC San Diego focusing on the interactions between the central nervous system and peripheral immune system.

I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to the members of the search committee for their thorough work and engagement, with special thanks to Aviad Haramati, Ph.D., and Michelle Roett, MD, for their leadership in co-chairing the committee. I remain deeply grateful to Edward Healton, MD, MPH, Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and Executive Dean of our School of Medicine, as well as the entire School of Medicine senior leadership team, for their many efforts to support our day-to-day operations during the COVID-19 crisis and the dean search.

Please join me in offering Dr. Jones our warmest welcome to Georgetown.

You have my very best wishes.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia