Dr. Linda Boyd Named Dean of West Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine

The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) has announced Linda Boyd, DO, as the school’s new vice president for academic affairs and dean. She will begin working at WVSOM on June 21, but her duties as dean will start July 1 with the retirement of current dean Craig Boisvert, DO, FACOFP, who has served at WVSOM for more than 33 years.

“It is hard for any team to change leaders, and especially when the prior dean is as well known and loved as Dr. Boisvert. I will ask the team to accept that I am a different person, though I am sure I am in some ways similar. I made great and lasting relationships with faculty, staff and administrators at my prior schools, many of whom I am still friends and in contact with. I am confident the same will happen at WVSOM,” Boyd said.

“My immediate goal is to learn the details of the school and meet the people who work at WVSOM so I can understand the strengths and talents available. By the end of my first six months, I would like to have a clear vision of where we can take the school and to have a plan in place no later than the end of my first year,” she said.

WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, PhD, said Boyd comes to WVSOM with extensive academic experience as a dean, as well as a distinguished career as an osteopathic physician, educator and administrator.

“The entire school is excited that Dr. Boyd will be our next dean,” he said. “We look forward to all that Dr. Boyd will accomplish in this next chapter of WVSOM’s story.”

Like Boisvert, Boyd brings to the position 33 years of academic experience as a family medicine clinical educator and medical school administrator, with a record of excellence in education, funded research and course administration. Her nearly eight years as senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM) in Stratford, NJ, have given her experience leading a medical school. She was also a graduate of the Senior Leadership Development Program sponsored by AACOM.