Ana Mari Cauce: leader of a new initiative in population health

Abstract

Until recently, Ana Mari Cauce, President of the University of Washington (UW), based in Seattle, WA, USA, considered herself to be somewhat of an accidental administrator. “I used to be a real hothead, with an intrinsic distrust of authority, distaste for bureaucracy, and disdain for process, not exactly the trifecta of traits that prepares one for academic leadership”, she says. And while Cauce has spent three decades at UW in a variety of progressively senior administrative roles, she sees herself as first and foremost a faculty member. “Next quarter I'll be teaching a freshman seminar, as I don't want to get too far away from the things I love the most”, she says.