The new Rick and Ginger Francis Endowed Dean of the Foster School of Medicine is a longtime physician and executive in academic and health care sectors who revels in new adventures, and does not discriminate when it comes to salsas.
“No wrong answer, but green edges out red,” said Dr. Eric M. Rohren, who will join Texas Tech Health El Paso on Oct. 1. He also will have a clinical appointment as professor of radiology pending approval of the university’s Promotions and Tenure Committee.
Rohren, 57, will come to El Paso from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston where he has served as professor and chair of the Department of Radiology for almost 10 years. Prior to that, he was the Positron Emission Tomography section chief at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for more than eight years. He has almost 30 years in health care.
He will replace Dr. Richard Lange, the school’s dean and TTHEP president since 2014. Texas Tech University System officials had asked Lange to step down as dean to devote more time to his duties as president of the El Paso institution.
“His experience, leadership and vision are a perfect fit for the school’s foundation of service, innovation, and community-focused education,” Lange said about Rohren in a statement.
Rohren, a Nebraska native who grew up in Minnesota, was among the more than 40 applicants who responded to a national search. An 11-member search committee made up mostly of TTHEP faculty narrowed the pool to four finalists who participated in several campus interviews with university leaders, faculty and stakeholders.
The dean-to-be said he was impressed with TTHEP’s dedication to its mission to serve the Paso del Norte region, and that he looked forward to working with the community and the Texas Tech University System to build on the school’s reach, impact and reputation.
Among his goals are to enhance medical research and education, offer innovative care at clinics to include the planned Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center, and add collaborations with partner hospital systems.
“I’m also excited to support and build other services in the Texas Tech Health El Paso network in the areas of cardiovascular care, neuroscience and other specialties,” Rohren said as part of an email interview.
Dr. Richard Black, dean of the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine and search committee member, said he was impressed with Rohren’s professional background that aligned with the school’s mission.
“He was a very, very popular choice,” Black said.
Black, who met with the candidate twice during the selection process, added that Rohren’s expertise in radiology and in PET imaging, where radioactive tracers create detailed three-dimensional images of the body’s organs and tissues, will be an asset at the medical school and at the Fox cancer center.
The other thing that impressed Black, an El Paso native, was the candidate’s genuine interest in the position and the community.
“I came away believing that this job was the job that he was looking for,” Black said.
The TTU System had suggested to Lange in his 2021 performance evaluation that he appoint a new medical school dean. In a previous interview, Lange said that multiple factors to include the pandemic delayed the dean search.
A TTHEP spokesman said that contract details, including salary and other compensation, are being finalized. The salary was to be commensurate with related skills, education and experience, according to the job description. The responsibilities of the medical school dean included the development, supervision and operation of the school’s academic programs.
The 2024-25 Report on the Compensation of Medical School Deans from the Association of Academic Medical Centers showed that the median total compensation, which is derived from salary, deferred compensation, and employer retirement contributions, was almost $898,000 in 2024-25.
Rohren’s interest in medicine started early. His father, a Navy veteran, was an internist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. An internist is a doctor who focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that affect internal organs. That gave the younger Rohren a glimpse into the life of a physician and the privilege of being part of patients’ lives.
As a young adult, Rohren was more interested in the research and development of the biotech industry, but his path changed one summer after he shadowed some doctors. He realized that his interest was in patient care.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1989 from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Seven years later, he received his medical degree and Ph.D. in immunology from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, and the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, respectively. Since then he has participated in a diagnostic radiology residency program and a nuclear medicine fellowship at the Duke University School of Medicine.
While a third-year medical student, he took an elective in radiology and knew that would be his specialty. A radiologist is a doctor who diagnoses and treats diseases and injuries through the use of medical imaging techniques. He said he is able to look inside patients and often is the first one to discover the cause of their symptoms.
“I love the opportunity to work with other physicians to solve complex medical issues,” he said.
The Texas Legislature established the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in 2007 and the first class started two years later. The school’s goal has been to improve health care in the historically underserved region by graduating physicians who would practice in the community.
The new dean and his wife, Nancy, have four adult sons. The youngest two are undergraduates at Texas universities. The family enjoys hiking and deep sea fishing. Among their most recent trips have been to the Gulf of Mexico to catch swordfish and Warsaw grouper. To record the catches, he took up the traditional Japanese art of fish printing, or gyotaku.
Rohren also admitted to being a “huge” Mexican food fan, especially chile peppers.
“I’m always trying to push my boundaries of spicy foods,” he said.
He will take over a school that earned its preliminary accreditation in 2008 and a full authorization five years later. The latest certification is good through the 2025-26 academic year.
The Foster School of Medicine enrolled 470 students in fall 2024, according to the TTHEP fact book. From 2012-25, the school graduated 1,103 students. Of the 107 graduates of the Class of 2025, 21 matched with local residency programs – a record.
The post Baylor professor, radiologist named Texas Tech Health El Paso medical school dean appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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