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OHSU School of Medicine dean Nathan Selden, a longtime leader at the academic medical center who almost became its president in 2024 before its governing board backtracked, was announced as a finalist Friday for a top job at Medical University of South Carolina.
What this means for Selden’s future at Oregon Health & Science University remains unclear. He did not respond to an emailed question, but an OHSU spokesperson said the school was aware he had been invited to explore a leadership opportunity at another academic health center, and that he continued to be “fully engaged in leading the OHSU School of Medicine.”
“It is common in academic health care for highly respected leaders to be approached about positions that reflect their accomplishments and reputation,” the spokesperson said.
Selden, a celebrated pediatric neurosurgeon who joined OHSU in 2000, came very close to becoming its president two years ago when former president Dr. Danny Jacobs resigned. But the OHSU board of directors abandoned the resolution after prominent figures pushed back and Gov. Tina Kotek put out a statement opposing the appointment as rushed.
Instead, the board named Steve Stadum as interim OHSU president before hiring a young hospital executive from the East Coast, Dr. Shereef Elnahal, for the permanent job in summer 2025.
Selden, a longtime department chair, had become interim dean of OHSU’s medical school in February 2024 and took on the permanent role that June—a job he has held since.
In the past year, he faced scrutiny over his decision to demote the popular chair of the department of family medicine in a saga that led to her accusing him of sex discrimination and retaliation. (OHSU, in a statement at the time, said it does not tolerate harassment, discrimination or retaliation of any kind” and that it was “confident we have followed our HR processes and procedures.”)
Selden has kept up his research work. In June, OHSU touted a study he published in the New England Journal of Medicine defining improvements in pediatric neurosurgical treatment. His CV submitted to the Medical University of South Carolina noted interests in, among other things, pediatric neurological surgery, neurodegenerative disease, and the history of medicine, in which he uses scholarship of ancient Greek medicine to examine problems and pose solutions for modern medical practice.
He is one of four finalists for the Medical University of South Carolina president’s job.
