Pescovitz to leave IU, accepts Michigan job

Ora Pescovitz, executive associate dean of research at the IU School of Medicine and former finalist for the IU presidency, announced Monday she will leave to take a job at the University of Michigan.

Pescovitz initiated dramatic changes at the medical school since taking the position in 2000. Since 2004, she has also served as president and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children.

Beginning May 11, she will take on the highest leadership position in the health program at the University of Michigan.

“I am honored and excited to take on a new challenge at the University of Michigan,” Pescovitz was quoted in a press release. “But as I leave I could not be more proud of the remarkable advances that Riley Hospital, Clarian Health, Indiana University and its School of Medicine have made in the past two decades.”

Pescovitz was also a finalist for taking the IU presidency in 2007, before the position went to current President Michael McRobbie.

During her tenure, research has doubled in scope to $260 million per year in grants and contracts. Her oversight also led to the development of 700,000 square feet of research space within the school.

“We truly regret her departure, but we celebrate her success and wish her well,” Craig Brater, dean of IU School of Medicine said in the press release