GALVESTON, Texas - Dr. C. Joan Richardson has been appointed chairwoman of the department of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Richardson was interim chairwoman of the department for the past eight months.Richardson will lead efforts to further strengthen and develop the research, clinical and educational missions of the pediatrics department.
During Hurricane Ike, Richardson served as UTMB's institutional emergency preparedness officer. According to Dr. Garland D. Anderson, executive vice president and provost, Richardson provided exceptional leadership during the storm and stepped in wherever needed.
"The same hands that care for our tiniest patients helped other doctors, nurses and essential personnel move key facilities to higher floors as the floodwaters rose," said Anderson. "She also assisted in the reassignment of medical students and residents to other schools and hospitals, and has been a source of encouragement to other hospital employees."
Richardson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in zoology at the University of Texas at Austin and her medical degree from UTMB. She completed an internship and residency training in pediatrics at UTMB, and subsequently served as a research fellow in perinatal medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
Richardson returned to UTMB as a faculty member in the department of pediatrics and director of the division of neonatology. She has served in a variety of roles, including acting chairwoman of the department of pediatrics, chief of staff and medical director for clinical affairs. She serves as professor in the departments of pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, director of the division of neonatology, medical director of the infant special care unit and newborn nursery and is an Osler Scholar in the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine.