About the Chancellor
Michael F. Collins, MD, FACP
Professor, Population & Quantitative Health Sciences and Medicine
Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences
Michael F. Collins, MD, a tenured professor of population & quantitative health sciences and medicine, was appointed chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School in 2008 after serving in an interim capacity from June 2007 to September 2008. Dr. Collins’ interim appointment also coincided with his being named as the senior vice president for health sciences for the University of Massachusetts, which, at the time, was a newly established system-wide position. As the senior vice president, Dr. Collins has spearheaded two five-campus life sciences strategic planning processes and continues to guide the strategic direction of the University’s life and health sciences portfolio.
On Sept. 7, 2021, Dr. Collins announced a history-making $175 million donation from The Morningside Foundation – a transformational and unrestricted philanthropic gift that comes as the Medical School celebrates its 50th year of educating future physicians, nursing leaders and biomedical scientists. In recognition of the gift and of the deep commitment to education, research and health care by the Chan family of investors, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, UMass Medical School was renamed the UMass Chan Medical School. The names of the institution’s three graduate schools also have been changed and now are known as: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine; the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
As chancellor, Dr. Collins oversees one of the most entrepreneurial medical schools in the nation, which is consistently recognized as a leader in student satisfaction, primary care training, basic science research, innovation and public service. He provides strategic management to a burgeoning enterprise that includes more than 5,100 employees; 1,300 graduate-level students; 620 medical residents and fellows; three schools; and one regional campus. UMass Chan Medical School generates $1 billion in annual revenues and operates a $400 million research portfolio. Unique among all medical schools, it also is home to two strategic business units: ForHealth Consulting, a substantial health care consulting division that partners with Massachusetts and other states to maximize health care expenditures and deliver health services to vulnerable populations; and MassBiologics, the only university-based, nonprofit FDA-licensed discoverer and manufacturer of vaccines and other biologics in the United States.
Dr. Collins joined the University of Massachusetts in 2005 as chancellor of the UMass Boston campus, making him the longest-tenured chancellor within the UMass system. Before coming to the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Collins served as president and chief executive officer of the Caritas Christi Health Care System from 1994 to 2004.
An alumnus, honorary degree recipient and former board chair of the College of Holy Cross and a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, Dr. Collins is a board-certified physician in internal medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, as well as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Dr. Collins currently sits on the boards of UMass Memorial Health, Inc.; the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts; and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.