McCollister “Mac” Evarts ’57M (MD), ‘64M (RES)

McCollister “Mac” Evarts, MD, is the former senior vice president and vice provost for health affairs at the University of Rochester and chief executive officer of the University of Rochester Medical Center. After graduating from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) in 1957, Evarts spent two years in the United States Navy. He completed his residency in orthopaedics at Strong Memorial Hospital. He then joined the faculty of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and was appointed chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1970. In 1974, Evarts returned to the University of Rochester to serve as professor and chair of the new Department of Orthopaedics. While at Rochester, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons and was named president of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, the American Orthopaedic Association, The Hip Society, and the Association of Orthopaedic Chairs.

In 1987, Evarts was recruited to the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, to serve as chief executive officer, senior vice president for health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine. During his tenure, he revamped the medical school curriculum; tripled the size of the medical faculty; led the construction of a sevenstory, state-of-the-art biomedical research facility; and instituted an MD-PhD program to train physician-scientists. He became chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers. In 1997, Evarts was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, now The National Academy of Medicine. In 2003, Evarts came back to Rochester and was appointed senior vice president and vice provost for health affairs and chief executive officer of the University of Rochester Medical Center. Now, having returned to Penn State College of Medicine, Evarts continues to provide patient care, educate medical students, facilitate in problem-based learning, and interview medical school candidates as a Penn State Distinguished University Professor.