In memoriam: Dr. Gerald S. Levey, 84, oversaw building of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Faculty and StaffDr. Gerald Levey, who led the transformation of UCLA’s hospitals and medical school into a world-class academic health system, died at home of Parkinson’s disease on June 25. He was 84.
Levey served the campus as vice chancellor of medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA from 1994 to 2010. During his tenure, Levey amassed an extraordinarily long list of achievements, crowned by the construction of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the sealing of a $200 million gift to the UCLA School of Medicine by entertainment executive David Geffen.
“It’s not possible to say in a short time what Jerry Levey means to UCLA,” said Chancellor Gene Block. “He left us with a state-of-the-art hospital, an endowed medical school, five new research buildings and 100 endowed chairs. Many generations will reap the benefit of his vision, leadership and dedication.”
Chief among Levey’s accomplishments were helping catapult the hospital and medical school to the top echelon of U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings; recruiting 20 leaders of academic departments; revamping the medical school’s curriculum; awarding medical degrees to more than 2,500 students; and overseeing the construction of a new campus for UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, as well as the creation of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center, five state-of-the-art research buildings and five new departments.