Biography

Sam Hawgood is the 10th chancellor of University of California San Francisco (UCSF), one of ten premier public research universities in the University of California (UC) system and its only campus exclusively focused on health sciences and graduate-level education.

A renowned researcher, professor, academic leader, and pediatrician, Hawgood was appointed chancellor at UCSF by the UC Board of Regents in 2014 and holds the title of Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor.

• Birthplace: Brisbane, Australia
• Family: Jane Hawgood and two sons, Andy and Alex
• Education: MBBS, University of Queensland, Australia
• Fellowships: Monash University, Australia, University of California San Francisco
• Residency: Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane
• Specialty: Neonatology
• National Memberships: American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine

Chancellor Hawgood leads a $9.5 billion UCSF enterprise with a public mission of advancing health worldwide through scientific discovery, health sciences education and patient care. He guides UCSF’s dynamic ecosystem, overseeing four nationally ranked professional schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, a distinguished Graduate Division, the UCSF Dental Center, and UCSF Health, the university’s expanding health care system.

One of the world’s leading academic medical centers, UCSF is a top public recipient of biomedical research funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and home to six Nobel laureates who have made seminal discoveries in cancer, neuroscience, aging, stem cells and pain sensation. UCSF’s cross-disciplinary research brings together teams working in basic science to better understand the underpinnings of biology and in translational research to apply scientific discoveries to real-world treatments.

UCSF Health, the university’s nearly $6 billion health care system, is recognized globally for innovative treatments, advanced technology and pioneering research applied to patient care. Together with UCSF Health President and CEO Suresh Gunasekaran, Hawgood leads UCSF Health’s growing health care network as it continues to affiliate with partners to broaden access to pioneering patient care across the Bay Area and beyond. UCSF Medical Center consistently ranks among the best hospital in the U.S. in many specialties, including neurology and neurosurgery, psychiatry, and diabetes.

Working with the deans of the four schools and Graduate Division, Hawgood oversees educational innovations which ensure that students and trainees are part of a highly collaborative culture, creating a learning environment that prepares them to be tomorrow’s leaders in health and science. All four schools and the Graduate Division consistently attract the world’s most talented students and rank among the best in their fields, according to U.S. News & World Report.

As chancellor, Hawgood has expanded partnerships and cultivated collaborations with biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, public health and community groups, and other health care organizations. He fosters innovation and entrepreneurialism to translate research discoveries into therapies and treatments that advance care and improve health outcomes, particularly for underserved populations.

Hawgood has advanced UCSF’s initiatives in basic and clinical science, helping to recruit world-renowned experts to address the most vexing diseases ranging from cancer to infectious diseases. One of his top priorities is harnessing the power of data and advanced computing tools, including the potential of artificial intelligence, to bridge the fields of genetics, molecular research, bioinformatics, and medicine to ultimately yield better outcomes and greater health equity for all.

Under Hawgood’s tenure as chancellor, UCSF revenues have increased by more than 50 percent, enabling the institution to retain its leadership in biomedical science and education, and commitment to its public mission. He led one of the largest fundraising efforts ever set by a U.S. university, a campaign that exceeded its $5 billion goal, raising nearly $6.2 billion to improve health.

With more than 30,000 faculty, staff and learners, UCSF is San Francisco’s second-largest employer and an academic medical center with longstanding affiliations with Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health System – both important training grounds for learners.

Founded in San Francisco more than 150 years ago, UCSF has served the city through every public health emergency from the 1906 earthquake, through the AIDS crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and every year in between.

A native of Australia, Hawgood entered medical school at age 17 and graduated with First Class Honors from the University of Queensland in Brisbane with a degree in medicine and surgery (MBBS). He spent the next year working at a hospital in Hong Kong, and traveled through China, South Asian countries, and Russia. After training in pediatrics as a resident, Hawgood specialized in neonatology as a fellow.

Hawgood joined UCSF as a research fellow in 1982 to work with distinguished scientists John A. Clements, MD, and William H. Tooley, MD, both pioneers in the discovery and therapeutic uses of pulmonary surfactant, which has saved millions of infant lives. As a young clinician, Hawgood witnessed the deaths of infants who suffered from respiratory distress syndrome, a developmental disease caused by the lack of a key lipoprotein called surfactant that lines healthy lungs and enables them to expand with each breath.

Those clinical experiences shaped Hawgood’s interest in the proteins associated with pulmonary surfactant. His research won funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and was supported continuously through 2015, earning him an international reputation in neonatology research.

Hawgood maintained an active presence in clinical medicine at UCSF for almost 30 years, including serving first as chief of the Division of Neonatology, then chair of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, prior to becoming dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, a role he held from 2009 to 2014 when he was appointed chancellor of UCSF. He also has served as president of the UCSF Medical Group, the faculty association that represents more than 2,000 physicians.

During his tenure as dean of the medical school and vice chancellor for medical affairs, the school became the country’s top-ranked medical school in research funding from the NIH, with many of its departments also leading the nation in their fields.

Hawgood and his wife, Jane, a retired social worker who focused on palliative care, met at the University of Queensland, and reside in San Francisco. They were married in 1977 and have two sons.

University of California, San Francisco

Office of the Chancellor, Box 0402

550 16th Street, 7th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94143

Phone: 415-476-6582

Email: [email protected]