Paul P. Lee, M.D., J.D., appointed senior associate dean of clinical affairs

The Board of Regents today (Dec. 8) approved the appointment of Paul P. Lee, M.D., J.D., as senior associate dean of clinical affairs in the Medical School and executive director for the U-M Medical Group (UMMG), effective January 15, 2023.

The UMMG encompasses the clinical practices of all departments of the Medical School into a single integrated entity with primary responsibility for the management of health provider resources and clinical care delivery across all sites of care for University of Michigan Health. He will work closely with all relevant entities to advance the academic missions of the Medical School. 

Lee, the F. Bruce Fralick Professor of Ophthalmology, obtained his medical degree from the University of Michigan and his juris doctorate degree from Columbia University, both in 1986. He completed an internship year in medicine at Beth Israel Hospital before finishing a residency in ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute in 1990. He maturated from a one-year fellowship program in glaucoma at the Harvard’s Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary. After graduation, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Washington. In 1991, he joined the University of Southern California as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor, with tenure, in 1995. In 1997, he was appointed as a professor, with tenure, at Duke University.

In 2012, he joined the University of Michigan as a professor, with tenure, and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. He has been involved extensively in administrative activities, serving on the board of directors for the University of Michigan Health System (2017-21), director of the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center (2012-present), vice chair of the executive committee for the U-M Health System, and a member of the Medical School Executive Committee (2019-22).

Lee also is an accomplished scientist. His research interests include patient-centered care and quality of care for patients with glaucoma. He has more than 290 peer-reviewed publications in his field and has authored over two dozen book chapters. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2019.

A national search for a new chair for the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences will commence in 2023.