Dr. Gerald S. Lazarus, dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, since 1993, will step down from that post July 1. "I have been privileged to serve as dean for over four years," said Lazarus. "I have been considering for some months whether I wished to continue in my present administrative role. I have concluded that, for personal and professional considerations, it is best for me to relinquish my responsibilities. I look forward to rejoining the faculty in July 1998, after refreshing my clinical and scholarly skills." Lazarus was recruited to UC Davis from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was chair of the Department of Dermatology and the holder of an endowed professorship. "Dean Lazarus has led the School of Medicine during a most difficult period in its history," said Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "He has worked hard and with great dedication to position the school to meet the economic challenges of managed care to academic medicine. The school and the campus are much the better for his effort and we are forever indebted to him for the enormous time and energy he has contributed these past four years." Dr. Joseph Silva, chair of the internal medicine department, will serve as dean until a permanent successor is selected. "Dr. Silva's long tenure with the School of Medicine and his extensive experience in leading a large, complex department will serve both him and the school well in this transition period," said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Robert D. Grey. "He is highly regarded by his fellow chairs, and I look forward to working with him and to Dr. Lazarus' continued contributions as a distinguished member of our faculty." Under Lazarus' guidance, the School of Medicine initiated a strategic planning process that established a blueprint for the future; completed highly successful recruitments for faculty and chairs; nurtured collaborations with the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Division of Biological Sciences resulting in "blossomed" programs in neuroscience and human molecular genetics and the currently under construction Center for Comparative Medicine; supported initiatives in tissue repair and remodeling involving the burn surgery department, the new Shriner's children's hospital, and a new musculoskeletal institute and three endowed chairs funded by a $5 million gift from Lawrence J. Ellison, chief executive officer and co-founder of Oracle Corp. Lazarus also notes "enormous strides" toward a unified health system engaging the teaching hospital and the school, the school's faculty, department chairs and clinical practice board, and a network of primary care physician practices in 17 northern California communities. Before coming to UC Davis, Lazarus chaired the Department of Dermatology at Penn's School of Medicine from 1982 to 1993 and held the Milton B. Hartzell Professorship. His previous appointments include chair of the Division of Dermatology and Callaway Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, 1975-82; head of the dermatology section at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, 1972-75; visiting scientist and research fellow at the University of Cambridge, 1970-72. A 1959 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, he received his M.D. degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1963 and served his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He also was a clinical and research associate in dermatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and chief resident in dermatology at Harvard Medical School. Silva, who will become dean July 1, has served as chair of the internal medicine department since 1983. His subspecialty is infectious and immunologic diseases. He received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in 1962 and an M.D. degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1966. His internship and residency training were undertaken at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a fellowship in infectious diseases was completed at the University of Michigan Medical School. After serving two years in the U.S. Air Force, Silva returned to the University of Michigan, where he was appointed assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of infectious diseases. He was promoted to professor in 1980.