Byerley named President/Dean of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

William O'Boyle, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·4 min read

Sep. 25—SCRANTON — Jaewon Ryu, M.D., J.D., president and CEO of Geisinger Friday said in addition to being a highly respected leader in education and her many career accomplishments, Dr. Julie Byerley's passion for academic excellence, research, and teaching will be critical to helping us realize our vision: to make better health easier for the communities we serve.

Geisinger announced that Byerley, M.D., M.P.H., will serve as the new president and dean of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), executive vice president and chief academic officer, effective Jan. 1, 2022. She succeeds Steven Scheinman, M.D., who has served as the president and dean of the college since 2012. Scheinman is set to retire at the end of this year.

"I am thrilled to announce Julie Byerley as our school's next president and dean," said Dr. Ryu. "We couldn't be more excited to have her join our team and lead GCSOM into the future."

Virginia McGregor, chair of the GCSOM board, added, "We're confident Dr. Byerley will work to assure the quality of GCSOM's educational programs and accreditation that will not only ground students with the very best in healthcare education, research and innovation, but will instill her passion for patient outcomes that will ultimately benefit our communities for generations to follow."

McGregor also thanked Dr. Scheinman for his leadership throughout the years and vision in growing GCSOM from a small community institution into the nationally respected medical school it is today.

"We look forward to working with Dr. Byerley to continue this tradition of excellence at GCSOM and to build upon the foundation that Dr. Scheinman helped us establish," McGregor said.

Byerley said she is honored and ecstatic to be joining as the new president and dean of GCSOM and Geisinger's chief academic officer.

"The school has a well-known national reputation for being innovative, community centric and patient focused while providing hands-on education and training that prepares students for careers in healthcare," Byerley said. "And our research institution has long been recognized as one of the most groundbreaking teams in medicine utilizing population and patient-based data. I am eager to serve and work closely with students, staff, researchers and faculty to further the success of the school, our research environment and all of the academic and training programs that we offer to make better health easier for everyone our students, alumni and researchers will impact throughout their careers."

According to a news release announcing the appointment, "as the new dean, Byerley will provide visionary leadership for GCSOM, assuring excellence, innovation, and a focus on learners, patients, and the promotion of health. She will continue to establish GCSOM as a leader in the industry and model the community service mission of the organization."

In addition to her GCSOM responsibilities, as chief academic officer, Dr. Byerley will leverage her experience from a world-class academic and research institution at the University of North Carolina (UNC) to also oversee the management of educational experiences for learners throughout Geisinger, including graduate medical education, nursing, pharmacy, advanced practitioners and other health professions.

She will also be responsible for overseeing Geisinger's research environment that includes more than 50 full-time research faculty and more than 30 clinician investigators responsible for groundbreaking medical advancements like the MyCode Precision Health Initiative and more. Geisinger's areas of research expertise span precision health, genomics, informatics, data science, implementation science, outcomes research, health services research, bioethics and participation in hundreds of clinical trials each year.

Byerley has been with the UNC School of Medicine since 2002, serving recently as vice dean for academic affairs where she oversaw the school's educational enterprise and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. Since January 2021 she has served as interim dean of the UNC Adams School of Dentistry.

Byerley earned her bachelor's degree in physics and a teaching certificate from Rhodes College and attended medical school at Duke University. She completed her pediatrics residency and chief residency at UNC-Chapel Hill where she also earned a master's degree in public health with a focus on maternal and child health.

Her husband, Mike Byerley, will be joining her in Scranton. They also have two adult sons. She has one dog named Bella. She enjoys hiking and looks forward to taking advantage of the outdoor activities that Scranton has to offer.