UMMC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Vice Chancellor
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Biography
Dr. Alan Jones was appointed associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs in March 2021. Jones works with executive leaders to provide strategic operational leadership for UMMC's clinical mission area. Jones works with administrative, physician and clinical leaders to provide oversight of health care delivery across the organization. Jones is charged with overseeing the delivery of patient-centered, high-quality care; achieving efficiency and standardizing clinical and business practices; and realizing targeted growth and strong financial performance.
A magna cum laude graduate of Millsaps College, where he received his B.S. in molecular biology in 1994, he earned his M.D. summa cum laude at UMMC in 1999. He had residency training in emergency medicine from 1999-02, was chief resident in emergency medicine from 2001-02, and had a clinical trials research fellowship from 2002-03 at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jones joined the Carolinas Medical Center faculty in 2003 as an assistant professor of emergency medicine and an assistant director of research. In 2007, he was promoted to associate professor of emergency medicine and, in 2010, became research director. Jones joined the Medical Center faculty in 2011 as professor of emergency medicine and vice chair and research director of the department. He ascended to chair the department in 2013. He also serves as the Medical Center's clinical response leader for the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Recipient of a 2020 SEC Faculty Achievement Award in recognition of an outstanding record in research and scholarship among faculty from Southeastern Conference-member universities, and recipient of the 2020 American College of Emergency Physicians' Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research, Jones is a Fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is a member of numerous professional societies; serves as associate editor of the Annals of Emergency Medicine and the Journal of Academic Emergency Medicine; and is on the editorial board of several professional journals. Jones served as the national president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine for the 2013-14 academic year.
Jones has had a number of hospital, academic administration and academic education appointments at the Medical Center. He serves as chief operations physician, vice chair of the Council of Clinical Chairs, interim chief telehealth officer, chair of the Compliance Committee and director of the Clinical Trials Track, Master of Science Degree in Clinical Investigation, School of Graduate Studies in the Health Professions.
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- Executive Director, Laboratory Animal Facility
Job Titles:
- Department Business Administrator
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice Chancellor Biography
- Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
Dr. Brian Rutledge assumed his current role as chief of staff in 2012, after serving a decade at the Medical Center in increasingly responsible roles. Rutledge is the chief liaison between the vice chancellor and the UMMC executive staff as well as with other internal and external constituents. In addition to his daily advisory and operational roles, he oversees the Medical Center's marketing, development, public affairs and economic development functions.
Rutledge holds a PhD in clinical health sciences from UMMC and bachelor's and master's degrees from Mississippi College, the latter in health services administration. In 2013, he was honored as the MC Health Services Administration distinguished alumnus of the year.
Prior to assuming his current position, Rutledge served as the School of Medicine's director of accreditation and assessment and was instrumental in preparing the school for its successful reaccreditation in 2012. He has also served as an administrator in the Department of Internal Medicine and manager of emergency services in the Department of Emergency Medicine, a role that saw him work to implement Mississippi's first emergency telemedicine system.
Rutledge served as the congressional health policy fellow for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran in 2013-14. He holds faculty appointments in the UMMC Department of Health Sciences and UMMC Department of Health Administration, and has served as adjunct faculty at Hinds Community College. He enjoys competitive trivia games, driving for Meals on Wheels, and is a certified private pilot.
Job Titles:
- CEO, Adult Hospitals
- Chief Executive Officer of the Adult Hospitals
- Chief Executive Officer, Adult Hospitals Biography
- MHS
Britt Crewse began serving as chief executive officer of the Adult Hospitals Feb. 9, 2020.
Before assuming that role, Crewse served as COO after joining the UMMC family in November 2018. As CEO, he oversees operations in the Adult Hospitals, which include University Hospital, Wallace Conerly Critical Care Hospital and Wiser Hospital, all on the Medical Center's Jackson campus.
Crewse has more than 30 years of health care experience. He started his career at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, serving in multiple roles. He worked as a senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP, in Greenville, South Carolina, and then moved to Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina, serving in various leadership roles in both compliance and operations.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research
- Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Biography
Caroline Compretta was appointed assistant vice chancellor for research on March 1, 2023. In addition to this role, she serves as associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine with additional appointments in Population Health Sciences, Pediatrics, and Advanced Biomedical Education. She is also core faculty in the UMMC Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities. Her research focuses on building effective and sustainable research programs to improve health in populations at risk for chronic disease.
A Hattiesburg native, Compretta graduated from Millsaps College before earning an MA and PhD in anthropology from the University of Kentucky and completing a post-doctoral research fellowship in medical anthropology from UMMC. She previously worked in the non-profit sector with underserved communities, and she remains engaged in these efforts through her research and as a volunteer.
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- MPHL Training Coordinator
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- Associate General Counsel
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- Member of the IBC
- Co - Director of Student Employee Health & Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer, Community Hospitals
- Chief Executive Officer, Community Hospitals Biography
Dodie McElmurray joined UMMC Jan. 27, 2020, as chief executive officer of community hospitals UMMC Grenada and UMMC Holmes County in Lexington.
Before coming to the Medical Center, McElmurray served as chief operating officer at West Jefferson Medical Center and was former administrator of clinical support services at UMMC.
McElmurray received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Delta State University in 1997, then gained experience as a staff nurse at Continue Care Home Health in Indianola and at North Sunflower County Hospital in Ruleville before becoming a unit manager at Ruleville Healthcare. She served as director of nursing at the Walter B. Crook Nursing Facility in Ruleville and Beverly Healthcare in Searcy, Arkansas.
She initially joined UMMC in 2003 as an assistant director of nursing and received her Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, Arizona. She served as UMMC's clinical director of neurosciences and orthopaedics, then as administrator of clinical support services from 2006-14.
She left the Medical Center to lead Greenwood Leflore Hospital as its chief operating officer before going to West Jefferson from 2017-19. McElmurray is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and serves on its Board of Governors. She also served as an ACHE regent for Mississippi from 2014-17, and was president-elect and president of Mississippi Healthcare Executives, an ACHE chapter, from 2013-14.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Research Lecture Home
- History
Arthur C. Guyton was born in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 8, 1919, to the late Dr. and Mrs. Billy S. Guyton. His father - an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist - was also dean of the two-year medical school on the Oxford campus. His mother, Kate, had taught mathematics and physics as a missionary in China.
He graduated from University High School with the highest academic average in his class and entered Ole Miss in 1936, completed his undergraduate work in three years, and again graduated at the top of his class.
As a medical student at Harvard, he attracted the attention of a biochemistry professor with his idea of a way to measure and differentiate ions in solutions. The professor turned over a small lab to the promising young scientists who spent his spare time thereafter pursuing experiments which caught his imagination.
In the middle of his senior year in medical school, he and his future wife Ruth Weigle began a serious courtship which culminated in marriage on June 12, 1943. Ruth, whose father was dean of Yale University Divinity School, was a recent graduate of Wellesley College and taught at Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley.
He began a surgical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital shortly after his marriage. His training was interrupted by a call to serve in the U.S. Navy at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and later at Camp Detrick, Md., where his work earned him an Army Commendation Citation.
After World War II ended, he returned to Massachusetts General to complete his residency. Less than a year later, he was stricken with polio which would leave his right leg and shoulder paralyzed.
During a nine-month recovery at Warm Springs, Ga., he designed a special leg brace, a hoist for moving patients from bed to chair to bathtub, and a motorized wheelchair controlled by an electric "joy stick." For these devices he received a presidential citation.
In 1947, the Guytons moved back to Oxford where he taught pharmacology in the two-year medical school. In 1948, he was named chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
His now famous and widely used textbook, "Textbook of Medical Physiology," had its beginnings in Oxford. He decided that the text the students were using was unsatisfactory, and he began reading in diverse areas of physiology. In summarizing his reading, he wrote handouts for each section of the course and realized he had the core of a complete textbook.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Dean of the School of Pharmacy
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer, University Physicians
- Chief Executive Officer, University Physicians Biography
Dr. George Russell assumed his current role as University Physicians CEO in July 2021. He is responsible for oversight and management of the UP practice plan operations and finances. He works with department chairs and ambulatory administration to drive quality and efficiency in all of UMMC's ambulatory sites. He oversees the development and implementation of a medical staffing plan, identifies and implements strategies for growth and collaboration both in the Jackson market as well as statewide, and identifies areas for standardization of operations and processes.
Named the James L. Hughes Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery in 2014, Russell previously served for nine years as chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Russell received his MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he had a general surgery internship and residency training in orthopaedic surgery. He then completed an orthopaedic trauma fellowship at the University of Washington/Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Russell served as an assistant professor and chief of orthopaedic trauma, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, before joining the Medical Center faculty in 2000 as an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation. He earned promotion to associate professor in 2002 and became medical director of the department in 2009.
He obtained his executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, in 2012. A diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners, Russell is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Orthopaedic Association and the National Medical Association, and he serves as an at-large member for the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. He also has served as president of the Mississippi Orthopaedic Society.
Listed among America's Best Doctors on numerous occasions and a three-time UMMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Professor of the Year, Russell is the author or coauthor of more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications, six book chapters and more than 15 abstracts. Chair of the UMMC Council of Clinical Chairs, the UMMC Physician Compliance Subcommittee and the UP Physician/Staff Hiring Committee, he serves as president of the UP Board of Governors.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer, Children 's of Mississippi Biography
- Mississippi 's Chief Executive Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Dean of the School of Health Related Professions Biography
Dr. John C. "Jay" Garner is the fifth dean of the School of Health Related Professions.
Garner earned his PhD in Biomechanics and his Master of Science in Exercise Science/Lipid Metabolism from Auburn University. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Delta State University, while completing an All-American baseball career. His area of research is the biomechanics of human movement in work and sports settings, specifically focusing on footwear and posture mechanics. He has a strong reputation for scholarship with his research works recognized through invitations to serve as an editorial board member for several journals, session chair for both regional and international conferences, textbook reviewer, invited author for a biomechanics textbook, and expert consultant for several trade magazines. He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with Distinction (CSCS*D) and has worked with numerous collegiate, Olympic and professional athletes in movement analysis.
Dr. Garner spent the previous seven years at Troy University, first as chair of the Department of Kinesiology & Health Promotion and then as Dean of the College of Health & Human Services. During his time at Troy, he became one of five people selected as a Troy University Chancellor's Fellow by the Institute of Leadership Development.
Previously, he worked for the University of Mississippi in Oxford for nine years, within the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, where he served various roles, including Director of the Applied Biomechanics Laboratory, Graduate Program Director, as well as Department Chair. Among his numerous distinctions at Ole Miss, he was named a Fellow of the Academic Leadership Development Program of the Southeastern Conference.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
Jonathan Wilson was appointed chief administrative officer in 2014. He coordinates the Medical Center's administrative services including the Mississippi Center for Emergency Services; the Office of Planning, Design and Construction; the Campus Police Department; the Office of Physical Facilities; and various other institutional operations.
Over the last decade, Wilson has distinguished himself through his leadership and development of UMMC's emergency response capabilities. He serves on several local, state and national work groups associated with the planning and implementation of emergency and disaster health care services. This work included the response and recovery efforts associated with incidents such as Hurricane Katrina, H1N1 flu and Ebola Virus Disease as well as developing emergency plans for future emerging threats.
Wilson earned a doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Mississippi School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences. His research interests are civilian disaster health-care response systems, pre-hospital care and aeromedical transport.
He is an active member of the Mississippi Nurses Association, the American Nurses Association, the Emergency Nurses Association, the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau, Nu Beta Chapter and the Ole Miss Alumni Association.
Wilson enjoys travel with his wife, Cristy, spending quality time with family and friends, and supporting Ole Miss athletics.
Job Titles:
- Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Dr. Juanyce D. Taylor was appointed chief diversity and inclusion officer in 2016 to accelerate the integration of diversity and inclusive practices within the Medical Center's mission areas and workforce. Taylor also leads several institutional committees such as the Vice Chancellor's Council on Diversity and Inclusion, the Institutional Climate Committee, and the Health Care Disparities Council. Previous roles at UMMC include assistant dean for research and innovation and chair of the Department of Health Sciences in the School of Health Related Professions, and director of diversity assessment and programs.
Job Titles:
- Chief Nursing Executive Biography
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Vice Chancellor
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Biography
Gene "Lee" Bidwell was appointed associate vice chancellor for research on July 1, 2023. In this role, he supports oversight of the Medical Center's research mission and is responsible for enhancing basic, clinical and population research. He also serves as professor and chief of the Neurology Basic Science Research Division and interim associate director of basic science research for the Cancer Center and Research Institute.
His funded research projects focus on developing new treatments for stroke, diseases of the eye, chronic kidney disease and pregnancy disorders without risking harm to the developing fetus.
An inventor on 11 patents, Bidwell has published nearly 60 research papers, and has received over $10 million in extramural research funding, for which he has been awarded platinum (2023), gold (2017), silver (2014) and bronze (2009) medals during UMMC's annual Excellence in Research Awards ceremonies.
Dr. Bidwell has been at UMMC since 2002. Since earning a PhD in biochemistry and completing a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry, he has held roles at every level, providing him a broad perspective of the research conducted at the Medical Center while fostering a deep appreciation for the research mission and a desire to see it grow.
A leader in science research, he currently chairs the American Physiological Society Central Nervous System Steering Committee and the UMMC Neurology Translational Research Committee.
A native of Greenwood, Bidwell lives in Brandon with wife Josie, associate professor of preventive medicine, and their two sons.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Vice Dean for Medical Education, School of Medicine Biography
Job Titles:
- Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine Biography / Executive Cabinet
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Biography
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Biography
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Biography
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Dean of the School of Dentistry Biography
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences Biography
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Dean of the School of Population Health Biography
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- Member of the Academic Officers Team
- Interim Dean of the School of Nursing Biography
Job Titles:
- Claims Investigation Manager
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- Associate General Counsel
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Frank Lenior is chief human resources officer and has 25 years of experience in the field in both health care and academia.
His career has included positions at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, as vice president of human resources and support services, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge, as vice president and regional chief people officer, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center in Nashville, as human resources manager of affiliated entities; Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, as director of human resources; Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, also as director of human resources; and Mercy Health System in St. Louis, as executive director and vice president of human resources.
He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Senior Associate
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- Member of the Contact Institutional Biosafety Committee
- Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Jennifer Sinclair, UMMC's chief financial officer, was appointed April 24, 2023. She has oversight of the Medical Center's finances and budget.
Sinclair has more than 23 years of experience as a health care executive, most recently serving as vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi. Prior to that, she was vice president and regional chief financial officer at Bon Secours Mercy Health in Toledo, Ohio, and executive vice president of operations and senior vice president of finance at St. Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital. She started her career with Ernst & Young in Jackson and Memphis.
Sinclair earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration degree from Mississippi State University. In addition to being a CPA, Sinclair is a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional.
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- Department of
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- Chief Information Officer
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- Member of the IBC
- Associate Professor, School of Nursing
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- Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
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- Manager - Legal Office Operations
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- Chairman of Otolaryngology, Professor
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- Member of the Contact Institutional Biosafety Committee
- Project Manager II
- Project Manager II, Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- Department of Microbiology
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- General Counsel
- General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer Biography
Job Titles:
- Member of the IBC
- Regulatory Affairs Manager, Office of Clinical Trials