Dawn O. Kleindorfer, M.D., appointed chair of Department of Neurology

Dawn O. Kleindorfer, M.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Neurology in the Medical School, effective May 1. The provost approved her appointment in April, and the Board of Regents will be asked to confirm approval in May.

Kleindorfer is returning to Michigan after serving as a professor and executive vice-chair in the Department of Neurology at the University of Cincinnati (UC). She also served as associate dean of faculty development and women’s initiatives, and director of the Vascular Neurology Division and Vascular Neurology Fellowship in the UC College of Medicine. She also was leader of the Comprehensive Stroke Center, and has extensive clinical experience with the management of acute stroke patients, including hyperacute treatments and long-term care.

As director of the Vascular Neurology Division, she oversaw seven physician faculty, 2-4 vascular neurology fellows, and a staff of 20 research nurses/associates. As associate dean, she was responsible for broadening the scope of faculty development programs, including a college-wide approach to faculty mentoring and leadership training. She was the advocate for women’s issues in the College of Medicine, and she was able to create and implement a parental leave plan for clinical faculty in 2018.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in biology from Indiana University, Kleindorfer received her medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis. She came to the University of Michigan for an internship in internal medicine and residency (chief resident) in neurology, before completing a fellowship in the Cerebrovascular Division at UC, and then she stayed on as faculty there.

Kleindorfer is a fellow of the American Heart Association, and member of the stroke council of the American Stroke Association, and stroke and vascular neurology section of the American Academy of Neurology. She has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, and numerous national invited presentations. She has been continuously funded at the R01 level since 2006, with a research focus in stroke epidemiology and racial disparities.

She is chair of the education core of the National Institutes of Health StrokeNet, and received the American Stroke Association International Stroke Research Mentor Award in 2018. She also received the Derek Denney-Brown Outstanding Neurological Clinical Research Scholar Award, and in 2013 was named the UC Neurology Faculty Teacher of the Year. She was one of 50 women faculty selected for the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.