Alumnus Dr. Peter Fos Named New President of UNO

Dr. Peter J. Fos has been named the new president of the University of New Orleans (UNO). The governing board of the University of Louisiana System chose Fos by a 13-0 vote.

A New Orleans native and 1972 graduate of UNO, Dr. Fos received his doctorate in dental surgery from LSUSD in 1976 and practiced dentistry for ten years in the New Orleans area. He later became chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. In 2000, he was honored by the American Society of Dentistry for Children with its distinguished service award.

Newly named University of New Orleans president Peter J. Fos, DDS, PhD, MPH

His academic career includes a PhD in Health Care Decision Analysis from Tulane University, and a Masters of Public Health in Health Systems Management from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

"I have known Dr. Fos for 37 years," said Dr. Henry Gremillion, dean of LSUSD. "He is a credit to dentistry and higher education. He is an excellent choice to lead UNO."

Background

Dr. Fos currently holds the position of professor and director of the health policy and systems program at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health in New Orleans. He is responsible for the academic aspects of the program, including curriculum development and assessment, and student and faculty professional development.

He began this position in April 2011 after serving as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) for three years. He also held the academic rank of professor of health sciences. He held the Sam A. Lindsey Endowed Research Chair at UT Tyler, which is awarded to a recognized scholar in an academic discipline that is of strategic importance to the university.

Prior to his service at UT Tyler, he was dean of the College of Health at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He was responsible for the undergraduate and graduate programs for 3,000 students in seven departments and schools.

Before that, Dr. Fos was chief service officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health, which had a $280 million annual budget, employed 2,300 people, and operated over 100 health clinics and direct food distribution centers.

Grants and Publications

Dr. Fos has received over $6.5 million in external grants and contracts. His research interests and consulting experience include health systems planning and evaluation, managerial epidemiology, decision sciences, health status, health disparities, health-related quality of life, patient satisfaction, access to health care, applied artificial intelligence, negotiation, clinical effectiveness, statistical process control, data mining and outcomes research.

He has published 52 peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, white papers and book chapters. His latest article, "The Physician Workforce in Louisiana:  The Effect of Hurricane Katrina", was published in the Journal of the Louisiana Medical Society in 2011.