Robert Higgins

A distinguished academic and clinical physician with a long track record of collaborative leadership, Dr. Higgins has held progressive leadership roles at Johns Hopkins, where he led the Department of Surgery as Surgeon-in-Chief and the William Stewart Halsted Professor of Surgery and as the President of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Executive Vice President of Mass General Brigham as the Elizabeth G. and Gary J. Nabel Family Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. In April 2024, Dr. Higgins was appointed in a new role as President and Chief Academic Officer of RUSH University, and Chief Academic Officer and Senior Vice President at RUSH University System for Health. He serves as the senior leader ensuring connection and alignment of the clinical programs across the university and entity hospitals. He is also responsible for the success of RUSH’s academic colleges with oversight of all aspects of the academic, student, administrative and external engagement activities of the