When the state’s two largest health care systems announced merger plans early in 2021, it was no surprise to also see Brown University President Christina H. Paxson front and center in the video extolling the benefits.
“We want to be a leader in cancer care,” she said during that February announcement. “We don’t want people to have to go to Boston or New York if … they have cancer. We can develop a world-class cancer center.”
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Creating a fully integrated academic health system in the state that includes Brown is a big challenge, but one the Ivy League-educated economist has been seemingly prepping for since she became the 19th president of Brown in 2012.
The university’s growth, both physical and educational, during her tenure has been impressive. Brown has opened a new School of Public Health and launched the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, among other initiatives.
The university was also an anchor tenant in South Street Landing in Providence’s Jewelry District. More than 400 Brown employees now work in the rehabilitated former power station.
Paxson, a former dean at the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University, was recognized by PBN in 2018 with a Business Leadership award for her many successes.
She was also a leading public voice during the early days of the pandemic for a return to campus for college students, arguing, correctly as it turned out, that it could be done safely.
