TULSA, Oklahoma – Following an international search, The University of Tulsa today announced the selection of Dr. Susan Pepin as the inaugural dean of TU’s recently reorganized Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences. Pepin brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, having served as managing director of health and clinical partnerships, senior adviser to the executive vice president, and clinical professor in the College of Health Solutions and Edson College of Nursing & Health Innovation at Arizona State University. She will begin her duties Jan. 15, 2024.
Pepin is a highly accomplished scholar, educator, surgeon, and clinician. She holds an M.D. degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and a master of public health from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. Pepin studied psychology, philosophy, and physiology as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford after completing her bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University in 1987.
“I am honored and excited to join The University of Tulsa as dean of Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences and look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and greater Tulsa community,” said Pepin. “Together, we will build on TU’s extraordinary history and establish a transformative college for science education, scholarship, and public impact for the 21st century. I plan to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, robust engagement in meaningful research, and a student and faculty experience that is distinctive to TU and its impact on our communities.”
A tireless advocate for health equity and student success, Pepin served four years as president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust where she managed a $550 million endowment and oversaw grants in health, arts and culture, and educational programs. She also is chief medical officer for Paxauris, a startup in hearing protection and wearable technology.
“Sue shares TU’s vision to continue to be one of the nation’s best colleges for students on the pre-med/pre-health career track as well as innovators and entrepreneurs who seek to make our world healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous,” said University of Tulsa Provost George Justice.
In November 2022, The University of Tulsa announced the formation of the Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences. A structural change through which the biology, chemistry, geosciences, and physics departments joined nursing, kinesiology & rehabilitative sciences, and communication sciences & disorders to create fertile ground for TU’s growth in the human health sciences. At The University of Tulsa, the percentage of successful applicants to allopathic programs from 2014 to 2022 far exceeded the national average.
Pepin succeeds Ron Walker, who has served as interim dean of Oxley College since spring 2022 when then-Dean Robin Ploeger was promoted to a vice president position.
