Milwaukee, Wis., September 18, 2026 – The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), one of the nation’s top-performing academic medical centers and third-largest private medical school in the United States, formally inaugurated Shekar N. Kurpad, MD, PhD, as its seventh President and Chief Executive Officer in a ceremony held on Thursday, September 17, at the Marcus Performing Arts Center in downtown Milwaukee.
Shekar N. Kurpad, MD, PhD, was inaugurated as the Medical College of Wisconsin’s seventh President and Chief Executive Officer in a ceremony held on September 17, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wis.
Hundreds of MCW faculty, staff, learners, alumni and trustees; area health system and higher education leaders; state and local elected officials; and Wisconsin business and community leaders were in attendance to honor Dr. Kurpad and mark the start of a new chapter in MCW’s history. In addition to videos from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Greater Milwaukee Committee President and CEO Cristy Garcia-Thomas, guests heard from colleagues, friends and mentors who offered their congratulations and best wishes as Dr. Kurpad leads MCW into its next chapter.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Kurpad set forth an ambitious vision that seeks to position MCW, along with its health system partners, as a national destination for world-class care, advanced medical education and groundbreaking research discoveries. His mission also includes continuing to elevate MCW and the greater Milwaukee region as a leading innovation hub that attracts talent, industry and catalyzing investments for a healthier Wisconsin and a healthier world.
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“Our opportunity is to connect our strengths in new ways: to move faster, act bolder, and turn collaboration into momentum,” said Dr. Kurpad, president and CEO of MCW. “If we do this together, we will become a destination for health, built on discovery, dedicated to care, powered by education, and strengthened by community partnerships, with one shared purpose: improving health for all.”
Dr. Kurpad, a neurosurgeon with more than two decades of service at MCW, succeeds John R. Raymond, Sr., MD who served as MCW’s President and CEO for 16 years.
