About Dr. Craig Kent
Craig Kent, MD, has dedicated his 30-year career to inspirational health system leadership, in each of his roles, expanding patient access, delivering high-quality care, and providing lifesaving treatments to the most complex of patients. He has led transformative research programs both individually and institutionally and held major national leadership roles in organizations focused on educating the next generation of health providers and leaders.
A Transformative Leader in Healthcare
Dr. Craig Kent’s trailblazing health system leadership is reflected in the significant impact he has made on each organization he has led, including as Division Chief in Vascular Surgery at Columbia and Cornell, and as the leader of the Vascular Service line for New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Dr. Kent also served as Chair of the Department of Surgery at The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; Dean of the College of Medicine, Vice President of Health Sciences, and Co-Health System leader at Ohio State University; and Executive Vice President of Health Affairs and CEO of the University of Virginia Health.
He was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his impactful research; he served as President of the Society for Vascular Surgery, which is the national society for all U.S. vascular surgeons, as well as President of the Society of Surgical Chairs, and as Chair of the American Board of Surgery.
A Prolific Researcher and Author
Dr. Kent has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 30 years and has chaired the NIH’s Surgery and Bioengineering study section, as well as others. His research interests have been broad, ranging from the molecular mechanisms underlying vascular disease to healthcare quality and outcomes.
He has published 360 peer-reviewed articles, in addition to 65 books and book chapters, addressing topics ranging from leadership and healthcare management to surgical education, vascular surgery, and many others. His articles have been published in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Craig Kent has also served as editor or associate editor of numerous publications, including the Annals of Vascular Surgery, Contemporary Surgery, and Haimovici’s Vascular Surgery. Over the years, Dr. Kent has also served on the Editorial Board of a number of prestigious peer-reviewed journals.
A Sought-After Speaker
Craig Kent, MD, has been a Visiting Professor or Honored Keynote Speaker at over 120 institutions, including the most prestigious Academic Medical Centers around the world.
His Bespoke Career
Dr. Kent’s most recent role was as CEO of the University of Virginia Health System (UVA Health), where he led an integrated academic health system that includes six hospitals, a school of medicine, a school of nursing, and two physician groups. During his over five-year tenure as CEO, the health system experienced significant growth with its annual revenue increasing from $2.5 billion to $4.7 billion. Patient access and the delivery of clinical care across the organization nearly doubled while quality metrics attained their highest levels in a decade. At a time of COVID and staffing shortages, staff satisfaction for the over 18,000 health system employees rose by over 15 percent.
During his tenure, many new and talented leaders were recruited, including over 500 new physicians and faculty. Under Dr. Kent’s leadership, the health system also focused on statewide expansion, which included the acquisition of three hospitals and a physician group in Northern Virginia, UVA Health became a minority owner of a five-hospital system in Eastern Virginia, and a large multi-specialty group practice was purchased. Despite the challenges experienced by health systems across the nation, including the pandemic, staffing shortages, and inflation, UVA Health maintained a strong economic position throughout its tenure. Moreover, the UVA School of Medicine experienced a $60 million growth in research funding. Dr. Kent led one of UVA’s most important initiatives, UVA’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which is set to open in 2026, reflecting the organization’s commitment to expanding the scope of its high-impact translational research.
Additionally, Craig Kent, MD, tripled philanthropy for UVA Health, met a billion-dollar fundraising goal as part of the most recent capital campaign, raising over $650 million for the health system. At Ohio State, Dr. Kent led the College of Medicine (2100 faculty) as well as the physician faculty group practice with over 1200 physicians. Shortly after arriving at Ohio State, Dr. Kent became a direct report to the University President with shared and broad oversight of the health system. His tenure was marked by a substantial increase in NIH Funding for the college, the recruitment of over 400 new faculty members, the development and successful implementation of a new faculty compensation plan, philanthropic efforts leading to $200 million in new gifts each year, as well as extensive expansion of the clinical facilities and enterprise.
During his leadership at the University of Wisconsin, Kent doubled the size of the department of surgery as well as the surgical volume and brought the department’s NIH ranking from 26th in the nation to 5th. Following the merger of the New York and Presbyterian Hospitals in 2001, Dr. Kent led the vascular surgery divisions at both Columbia and Cornell as well as the bicampus vascular service line, creating one of the largest and most well-funded academic vascular surgery programs in the country.
Dr. Kent’s Titles, Awards, and Honors
Craig Kent’s work and achievements have been recognized throughout his medical training and academic career. He rose to the level of Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and has been Professor of Surgery at Cornell, Columbia, the University of Wisconsin, The Ohio State University, and the University of Virginia. His awards and honors include induction into Alpha Omega Alpha at the UCSF School of Medicine; the Fred and Ester Nusz Annual Achievement Award (scholarship presented to outstanding chief resident at the University of California); the Harold Bengloff Award in the Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital (awarded to a faculty member for excellence in teaching); and the E. J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship (awarded by the Society of Vascular Surgery for academic excellence in clinical and basic science research). Over the years, he has received many Top Doctor and Best Doctor awards related to his active clinical practice.
Education and Training
Dr. Kent holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, San Francisco. His postdoctoral training includes: Internship and Residency in Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, California; Research Fellow in Vascular Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, where he was a Recipient of a National Research Service Award; John Homans Vascular Fellow, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston; an Endovascular Fellowship, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland; and Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Centers, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
He has held medical licenses in Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Virginia.
Professional Memberships
Dr. Kent is a member of numerous organizations, including among others, the American College of Surgeons, American Heart Association, the Society for Vascular Surgery, American Surgical Association, Society of Surgical Chairs, the International Surgical Group, the American Board of Surgery, the Blue Ridge Academic Health Group (BRAHG), and the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.
