1997 Graduate School of Education and Perelman School of Medicine graduate Jennifer Hunt will serve as the first female dean of Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine.
Hunt — currently the University of Florida College of Medicine interim dean — will begin her role at Dartmouth on Aug. 1, according to a press release from last week. Hunt received her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Science in Education from Penn, where she also completed her residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell described Hunt as “an exceptional physician-leader with deep experience in academic medicine” who is “well positioned to advance Geisel’s mission,” in the release.
Hunt wrote that it is “an honor and a privilege” to join Dartmouth, adding that she is “looking forward to getting to know the Geisel School of Medicine’s faculty, staff, students, and trainees and collaborating with them to build upon the school’s rich history of innovation and excellence.”
Since joining UF in 2020, Hunt has also chaired the Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine Department. She has served as chief of staff at UF Health Shands Hospital. Throughout her career, Hunt has authored over 160 peer-reviewed papers and is a fellow at the College of American Pathologists.
Hunt has previously held academic and leadership roles at the University of Pittsburgh, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
“Jennifer Hunt has the experience and skills to help Geisel shape world-class physicians and health scientists who will also be leaders in their communities,” Dartmouth President Sian Beilock wrote.
Beilock added that Hunt “will help advance Dartmouth’s impact in improving rural health care for patients across our region and around the country and world.”
RELATED:
Wharton professor to lead Penn’s new Committee on Open Expression
Bryn Mawr College appoints two Penn alumni as provost, board chair
Founded in 1797, Geisel has never had a woman at its helm. Hunt will succeed interim dean Steven Leach, who has served as the medical school’s dean since September 2025.
“This is a truly historic moment for Geisel, and I am thrilled that the leadership of our great school will continue to be in such capable hands,” Leach wrote in the press release. “I believe Dr. Hunt will be an outstanding dean for Geisel and will lead our institution into an era of even greater success.”
