Kevin Souza is not new to managing people. His first experience was 25 years ago as a manager of a basic science research lab in endocrinology.
Now, in his current role as the assistant dean of Medical Education in the UCSF School of Medicine, he is responsible for unifying the geographically dispersed medical education administration, with approximately 60 staff members making up the team.
But it is not Souza’s years of experience or the breadth of his role that makes him such a great manager, it is his commitment to inclusivity, fairness and innovation. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional University Performance. It is not a honor that Souza takes lightly. “It was the greatest moment of my professional career,” he says.
Born in Clarksville, a small town on Tennessee’s northern border, Souza grew up on a 400-acre family farm. “We grew cash crops like corn and much of our own food,” he says. “We slaughtered our own pigs and chickens.”
From these rural beginnings he embarked on a career in science, earning his B.S. degree in Biology at Austin Peay State University and an M.S. degree in Biology from Vanderbilt University. After earning his graduate degree, he taught biology at Vanderbilt and at Chancellor College in Malawi, Africa, as a US Peace Corps volunteer. Souza then returned to Vanderbilt before coming to UCSF in 1993.
Read More about Kevin and OME's approach to the Staff Engagement Survey
