Peter Kohler, MD, is retiring as vice chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ northwest Arkansas campus, effective Dec. 31. He will continue to work part time, seeing patients and conducting research in the Center for Pacific Islander Health.
In an organizational change, Pearl McElfish, PhD, will lead the campus and other UAMS programs in the region as associate vice chancellor for the Northwest Regional Campus and report to Tim Hill, vice chancellor for Regional Programs. McElfish will also continue her work as the director of the Office of Community Health and Research, co-director of the Center for Pacific Islander Health and as an assistant professor in the College of Medicine.
Kohler, who is also a distinguished professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, was hired in 2007 to lead efforts to open UAMS’ northwest Arkansas campus. He had recently retired from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland after serving more than 18 years as president there. He remains OHSU’s president emeritus.
However, he was not a new face to UAMS. From 1977 to 1986, Kohler served as chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine. He also served as interim dean of the medical school in 1985-1986. From UAMS, he went to the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio, where he served as dean.
Educated at the University of Virginia and Duke Medical School, Kohler received his postgraduate training at Duke Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital. He worked at the National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute before going to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he served as professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology. In 1994, he was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine and is the only person in Arkansas to hold this prestigious appointment.
As the associate vice chancellor for the Northwest Regional Campus, McElfish will provide leadership to ensure coordination across UAMS’ programs in the region and work closely with area partners.
McElfish joined UAMS in 2010 as the study director of the National Children’s Study for the Department of Pediatrics. In 2012, she was named the director of the Office of Community Health and Research. Then in 2015, she founded the Center for Pacific Islander Health, the first center in the United States that focuses solely on Pacific Islander health issues. She now leads the center with Nia Aitaoto, PhD, M.P.H.
Prior to joining UAMS, McElfish worked for various community health organizations, improving efficiency and quality of care and developing strong, sustainability research and community health programs.
She holds a doctorate of philosophy in public policy from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a master’s degree in community and economic development from the University of Central Arkansas, a master’s degree in business administration from John Brown University and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Arkansas Tech University.