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University of Kansas Medical Center Leadership Team

Leadership at KU Medical Center is guided by a vision to lead the nation in health care education, healing, teaching and discovery.

Steve Stites, M.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Health Sciences Officer
KU Medical Center
sstites@kumc.edu

University of Kansas Medical Center
2032 Murphy Administration Building
Mail Stop 2015
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS 66160

Members of the Leadership Team

Abiodun Akinwuntan, Ph.D., MPH, MBA, MIH
Dean, KU School of Health Professions
aakinwuntan@kumc.edu

Barbara Bichelmeyer, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for KU-Lawrence
provost@ku.edu

Chris Blanchard
Executive Assistant, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor
cblanchard@kumc.edu

Debra Brogden
Executive Officer, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor
dbrogden@kumc.edu

Jeff DeWitt
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice Chancellor
jeff.dewitt@ku.edu

Karen Gates
Director, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor
kgates@kumc.edu

Kimberly Gibbens, J.D.
Deputy General Counsel
kgibbens@kumc.edu

Jean Foret Giddens, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, ANEF
Dean, KU School of Nursing
jgiddens@kumc.edu

Kimberly Grunewald, J.D.
General Counsel and Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
kgrunewald@ku.edu

Chris Harper
Chief Information Officer
charper@kumc.edu 

Robert Klein, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs
rklein@kumc.edu

Nell Lucas
Vice President for Medical Development, KU Endowment
nlucas@kuendowment.org

Natalie Lutz
Director & Chief Communications Officer
nlutz3@kumc.edu

Robert McCormack, MPA
Chief of Staff, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor
Director, Government Relations
rmccormack@kumc.edu

Akinlolu Ojo, M.D., Ph.D., MBA
Executive Dean, School of Medicine
aojo@kumc.edu

Scott Owings, M.D.
Dean, KU School of Medicine-Salina
sowings@kumc.edu

Matthias Salathe, M.D.
Senior Vice Chancellor of Research and Chief Research Officer
msalathe@kumc.edu 

Ryan Spaulding, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement
rspaulding@kumc.edu

Laura Tatpati, M.D.
Dean, School of Medicine-Wichita
ltatpati@kumc.edu

David Vranicar, MBA
Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer
dvranicar@kumc.edu

Chari Young, J.D.
Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Human Resources Officer
cyoung8@kumc.edu

Last modified: 07-11-25