Brief Biography

On May 11, 2009, Dr. Pescovitz became the University of Michigan’s first female Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Health System Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Pescovitz is responsible for the leadership and management of the Health System, which includes the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, the U-M Medical School, clinical services of the U-M School of Nursing and the Michigan Health Corp., the legal entity that allows the Health System to enter into partnerships, affiliations, joint ventures and other business activities.

As CEO of one of the nation’s leading research institutions and a network of hospitals that is one of a few in the country – and the only one in Michigan – to be listed on the U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll 17 consecutive years, Pescovitz is responsible for oversight of $3 billion in revenue and a Medical School with more than $445 million in NIH funding. She leads a number of major initiatives, including development of the 174-acre North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) and opening the new C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital.

Pescovitz is a nationally recognized pediatric endocrinologist and researcher who was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2011. Most of her work has been on the physiologic and molecular mechanisms responsible for disorders of growth and puberty, with a focus on development of novel therapies for these conditions. She has published 180 papers and books, and received numerous awards for her research, teaching and leadership.

Recent Awards & Recognition

• 25 Women Who are Making a Difference, Michigan Women’s Foundation (2012)
• Northwestern Alumni Association Merit Award (2012)
• Distinguished Leadership Award, Michigan Business and Professional Association (2012)
• Election to the Institute of Medicine (2011)
• Recipient of the 2011 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award, The Endocrine Society (2011)
• Crain’s Detroit Business 2010 Newsmaker’s of the Year (2010)
• Selected as one of 50 Hospital & Healthcare Women Leaders, Becker’s Hospital Review (2010)

Service & Leadership

Dr. Pescovitz has served as president of the Society for Pediatric Research, the nation’s largest pediatric research organization, president of the Lawson Wilkins (North American) Pediatric Endocrine Society, chair of the March of Dimes Grants Review Committee, and as a member of the boards of the Hormone Foundation and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI). In 2010, she served as chair of the United Way of Washtenaw County’s annual fundraising campaign. She is currently on the board of the Children’s Miracle Network and the board of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC).

Prior to taking the U-M post, Dr. Pescovitz had an extensive career serving as executive associate dean for Research Affairs at Indiana University School of Medicine, president and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and interim vice president for Research Administration at Indiana University.

She was married to the late Dr. Mark Pescovitz, an organ transplant surgeon and former vice-chair for research in the Department of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. They have three children.