USA President Gordon Moulton in making the announcements.

“I am grateful to have a person of Dr. Sam Strada’s experience and ability as we undergo a leadership transition in the College of Medicine,” Moulton said.

“The University will accelerate its orderly and thoughtful search process to secure continued solid leadership in the USA Health System. This is vital, considering USA’s substantial impact on the health care of the people of the Mobile region, as well as the region’s economic well-being.”

Strada will oversee administration of the college and the basic medical sciences, Moulton said. Dr. Fred Meyer will remain responsible for the USA physician practice plan and will also oversee graduate medical education. Stan Hammack, associate vice president for hospital affairs, will remain responsible for USA’s hospitals. All three will report to the President’s Office.

Dr. Kreisberg has a long history as a leader in the USA College of Medicine and the USA Health System. In addition to two terms as dean, he has served as chair of the department of internal medicine, medical chief of staff, and vice president for medical affairs.

“Dr. Kreisberg returned to USA in 1999, during a very challenging period in the USA Health System,” Moulton said.

“He has since worked diligently to restore the Health System to its current state of stability and growth. He has been instrumental in the important formative years of the USA Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Kreisberg is known to many as a gifted teacher, caring physician, committed mentor and nationally respected researcher and scholar in endocrinology.”

As the USA College of Medicine was being established, Kreisberg joined the faculty in 1973 as professor and chair of internal medicine, a position he held until 1987. From 1976 to 1980, he led internal medicine while also serving as dean of the medical school. In 1987, Kreisberg was recruited back to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At UAB for the second time, he served as professor and vice chairman of internal medicine until 1994, when he became director of the internal medicine residency program at Baptist Health Systems in Birmingham.
In 1999, Kreisberg returned to USA as associate vice president of clinical affairs, chief of staff for the USA Hospitals and chief executive officer for the Health Services Foundation. In 2000, he began his second stint as USA’s medical dean, also holding the title of vice president for medical affairs.

Prior to his first service to USA, Kreisberg was on faculty at UAB. From 1964 to 1973, he held many key positions, including director of the division of medical education for the UAB department of internal medicine, professor of medicine and director of the Clinical Research Center.

Kreisberg was born in 1934 in New York City. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed his medical internship in Northwestern’s health system, also serving a two-year fellowship in endocrinology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He has authored or co-authored 92 scholarly articles, reports, and one book, and co-edited another book. He has continued an active practice in endocrinology throughout his academic career.

USA has honored the retiring medical dean by creating the Robert A. Kreisberg Clinical Scholars Endowment, which recognizes and rewards gifted medical educators. For more information or to donate, contact Jim Rainey at (251) 461-1775 or jrainey@usouthal.edu.

Strada joined USA in 1983 as professor and chair of pharmacology. He became senior associate medical dean in 1994. Strada has served as acting director of the graduate program in basic medical sciences, assistant dean for admissions, and acting chair of psychiatry. Strada was instrumental in creation of the Office of Technology Development, Office of Research Compliance and Assurance, and the USA Technology and Research Park. He is president of the South Alabama Medical Science Foundation and was faculty athletics representative from 1990-97.

Strada has national recognition for research on cellular signaling mechanisms and has published more than 200 articles and abstracts. He has been active in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the Council of Academic Societies of the American Association of Medical Colleges. He has served as president of the Association for Medical School Pharmacology Chairs and the Southeastern Pharmacology Society.

Strada received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and master’s in pharmacology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and his doctorate in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He did post-doctoral training in neuropharmacology at the National Institutes of Mental Health in Washington, D.C. Before coming to USA, he spent 11 years on the faculty as the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where he rose to acting chair of pharmacology.

Since enrolling its first class in 1973, USA’s College of Medicine has awarded more than 1,800 doctor of medicine degrees. More than one-third of the practicing physicians in the Mobile area were educated at USA.

Letter from President Gordon Moulton