Craig Kent

Craig Kent, MD, has dedicated 30 years to advancing health system leadership, with a career marked by expanding patient access, delivering high-quality care, and treating individuals with the most complex medical conditions. His experience spans academic medicine, institutional research, and executive leadership, consistently reflecting a commitment to patient outcomes, system performance, and the education of future healthcare professionals. Dr. Craig Kent began his leadership career as Division Chief in Vascular Surgery at Columbia and Cornell, where he also oversaw the Vascular Service line at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He later served as Chair of the Department of Surgery at The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. At Ohio State University, he held key leadership roles, including Dean of the College of Medicine, Vice President of Health Sciences, and Co-Leader of the Health System. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Health Affairs and CEO at the University of Virginia Health System. His contributions to healthcare and research were recognized through his induction into the National Academy of Medicine. He has also held prominent national leadership positions, including President of the Society for Vascular Surgery, President of the Society of Surgical Chairs, and Chair of the American Board of Surgery, demonstrating his ongoing influence on national surgical policy and physician development. Craig Kent has maintained uninterrupted research funding from the National Institutes of Health for over three decades. He has chaired the NIH’s Surgery and Bioengineering study section and served on several advisory panels. His research has explored the biological basis of vascular disease as well as broader studies in healthcare quality and system outcomes. He has authored 360 peer-reviewed publications and 65 books and book chapters, with his work featured in respected medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. In addition to his research, Dr. Kent has made substantial contributions to academic publishing. He has served as editor or associate editor for the Annals of Vascular Surgery, Contemporary Surgery, and Haimovici’s Vascular Surgery and has sat on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals throughout his career. As a speaker and educator, Craig Kent, MD, has presented at over 120 academic medical centers worldwide as a Visiting Professor or Keynote Speaker. At UVA Health, he led the organization through a period of substantial expansion. Annual revenue grew from $2.5 billion to $4.7 billion, and patient access and clinical volume nearly doubled. Quality outcomes reached their highest levels in ten years, and staff satisfaction improved by more than 15 percent despite national challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing shortages. During his time at UVA Health, Craig Kent led efforts to grow the system’s statewide presence. This included acquiring three hospitals and a physician group in Northern Virginia, becoming a minority stakeholder in a five-hospital system in Eastern Virginia, and purchasing a large multi-specialty practice. Research funding at the UVA School of Medicine increased by $60 million, and he led the establishment of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which is expected to open in 2026. He also played a major role in strengthening philanthropic engagement, helping to raise over $650 million toward a $1 billion capital campaign and tripling the health system’s annual fundraising efforts. At Ohio State, he led a faculty of 2,100 and a physician group comprising over 1,200 clinicians. His leadership included the recruitment of more than 400 faculty members, the development of a faculty compensation model, expansion of research funding, and annual philanthropy totaling $200 million. At the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Kent helped double the size and surgical volume of the Department of Surgery and led the department’s NIH funding rank to rise from 26th to 5th nationally. Earlier in his career, he led the unified vascular surgery programs at Columbia and Cornell following the merger of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospitals, building one of the largest academic vascular programs in the country. Dr. Kent has earned recognition for both academic excellence and clinical leadership. He served as Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and held professorships at Columbia, Cornell, the University of Wisconsin, The Ohio State University, and the University of Virginia. His honors include induction into Alpha Omega Alpha at UCSF, the Fred and Ester Nusz Annual Achievement Award, the Harold Bengloff Award for teaching, and the E. J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship from the Society for Vascular Surgery. He has also received multiple Top Doctor and Best Doctor accolades. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. His postdoctoral training includes a surgical residency at UCSF, a vascular research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an endovascular fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, and leadership development at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has held medical licenses in Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Virginia. Dr. Kent continues to be active in the professional medical community through memberships in the American College of Surgeons, American Heart Association, Society for Vascular Surgery, American Surgical Association, Society of Surgical Chairs, International Surgical Group, American Board of Surgery, Blue Ridge Academic Health Group, and the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.