WesternU Announces Senior Executive Promotions
Philip Pumerantz, PhD, president of Western University of Health Sciences
(WesternU), has announced the promotion of two of the University’s key
administrators.
Donald J. Krpan, DO, FACOFP, has been named University provost. George
Charney, DO, FAOCA, FAODME, is now the University’s executive vice
president of academic affairs/chief academic officer (CAO).
“”Our current growth and development is more extensive than at any time in
our past,”” Dr. Pumerantz said. “”Drs. Krpan and Charney possess the
substantial vision and expertise that will help WesternU meet the
opportunities and challenges awaiting us in the years to come.””
As University provost, Dr. Krpan will focus his attention on developing
and expanding WesternU’s Academic Center for Excellence in the Health
Sciences (ACEHS), the OPTI-West Educational Consortium, as well as explore
the development of the pharmacy and physician assistant educational
programs at the WesternU Regional Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The ACEHS, a partnership between WesternU and the new Arrowhead Regional
Medical Center in Colton, works to promote excellence in health
professions education, to provide access to quality health care services
for area residents and engages in health sciences research.
An OPTI (Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution) is a consortium
of health care facilities and an osteopathic medical college which offer
internship and residency programs that have been approved by the American
Osteopathic Association (AOA). OPTIs must meet rigorous osteopathic
standards and membership in an OPTI is required of all health care
facilities involved in AOA-approved internship and residency programs.
Currently, nine health care facilities in the western United States
comprise OPTI-West.
A 1967 graduate of the University of Health Sciences College of
Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Krpan completed a
rotating internship at Phoenix General Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. He
was a family physician from 1968-1988, with practices in Houston, Texas;
Phoenix, Arizona; and Yorba Linda, California. He was elected to the
position of chief of staff at three hospitals.
Dr. Krpan began his career at WesternU in 1987 as director of graduate
training at the University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the
Pacific (COMP). He also was director of clinics and was promoted to dean
in 1988. Since then he has held the position of executive vice president
of academic affairs/dean of osteopathic medicine and became the
provost/executive vice president of academic affairs in 1995.
His faculty appointments have included assistant professor at Michigan
State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and associate professor
of family medicine and professor of family medicine at COMP.
Dr. Krpan was certified by the American Osteopathic Board of General
Practice in 1978, was re-certified in 1995 and made a fellow in 1996. He
has been a member of the board of trustees of the AOA since 1988.
In his new position, Dr. Charney will be responsible for developing and
implementing academic policy; with University faculty, he will identify
and establish academic priorities; collaborate with central University
leadership to advance campus concerns; foster new academic programs; and
continue the development of highly qualified faculty, among other duties.
The members of WesternU’s Academic Affairs Council (made up primarily of
the deans of WesternU’s five colleges) will report to him.
Dr. Charney received his degree in osteopathic medicine from the
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a residency in
anesthesiology at Cherry Hill Medical Center in New Jersey.
He is a diplomate of the American Osteopathic Board of Anesthesiology and
is a fellow in the American Osteopathic College of Anesthesiologists, the
Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators and the Academy
of Medicine in New Jersey. He has held faculty appointments at the
University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences College of
Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa; the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine in
Stratford, New Jersey; and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic
Medicine.
He has held positions in academic medicine as vice president of medical
affairs/director of medical education at Delaware Valley Medical Center in
Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and chief medical officer of Kennedy Memorial
Hospitals-University Medical Center in New Jersey. He has also practiced
medicine in the fields of family medicine and anesthesiology in the states
of New York and New Jersey. Dr. Charney came to WesternU in 1997 as
assistant dean of clinical affairs for COMP and most recently served as
the College’s vice dean.
