New NEOUCOM president says school values links to Valley

By Harold Gwin

One of his key roles will be to strengthen community and education partnerships.

ROOTSTOWN — The incoming president of the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy said the institution really values its Youngstown relationship.

Dr. Jay Alan Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D., who becomes NEOUCOM’s sixth president effective Jan. 15, said his role will be to reach out to the medical school’s community and education partners and strengthen those relationships.

NEOUCOM was launched in 1973 as an educational partnership involving Youngstown State University, Kent State University and the University of Akron to provide a facility for training physicians in Northeast Ohio. That partnership was expanded last year to include Cleveland State University.

Outgoing President and Dean of the College of Medicine Dr. Lois Margaret Nora, who has led NEOUCOM for seven years, has said numerous times that the Youngstown area remains important to the institution and it will retain strong links with the medical community there.

Dr. Gershen, whose appointment was announced Wednesday, said those types of links helped NEOUCOM develop into what it is today.

He sees the development of the health-care work force as the next area of concern for the institution, pointing out that NEOUCOM is a role model for programs in workforce development.

Dr. Gershen comes to the institution from the University of Colorado Denver, where he was chancellor for external affairs. He was the university’s point person for business development, community affairs and external relations and held positions on numerous business advisory boards in Denver, the state of Colorado and nationally. He has been a professor in the University of Colorado Denver School of Dental Medicine since 1997.

He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a D.D.S. from the University of Maryland. He completed both a clinical specialty in pediatric dentistry and a doctorate in education at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We are delighted that Dr. Gershen has accepted our offer to become NEOUCOM’s next president, and we look forward to his arrival on campus,” said Steven Schmidt, chairman of NEOUCOM’s Board of Trustees, noting that Gershen was the board’s unanimous choice.

“The opportunity to serve as NEOUCOM’s president is an exciting one, and I am truly honored to have been chosen for the role,” said Dr. Gershen. “The University’s outstanding faculty and staff, inspired students and dedicated and loyal alumni make it a unique institution, one that offers an exceptional resource to the region. I anticipate working closely with NEOUCOM’s diverse constituencies to build upon its strengths and to capitalize on both the accomplishments and emerging opportunities the university has achieved under the extraordinary leadership of Dr. Nora.”

gwin@vindy.com