Mariann Byerwalter ’82, a longtime member and former chair of the Stanford Health Care Board of Directors, has been selected as interim president and CEO of Stanford Health Care (SHC). Byerwalter will transition into her new role, officially beginning on Jan. 2, 2016, during the last two months of current president and CEO Amir Dan Rubin’s tenure.
SHC oversees the system of hospitals and clinics that comprise the Stanford medical system. Vaden Health Center, Stanford’s student medical center, is not overseen by SHC.
Byerwalter was selected by the SHC Board Transition Committee, a group of 11 leaders in the Stanford medical community (including Byerwalter herself) tasked with finding Rubin’s successor. Rubin, who has served as SHC president and CEO for the past five years, will step down at the end of 2015 to accept the role of executive vice president at UnitedHealth Group.
Byerwalter, who chaired the search committee that led to Rubin’s hiring, praised the current CEO’s commitment to “excellent patient care.” As interim CEO, she hopes to continue Rubin’s legacy of improving doctor-patient communication.
Byerwalter’s service to Stanford began just three years after she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science/public policy. As an undergraduate, she was ASSU president and a recipient of the prestigious J.E. Wallace Sterling award.
“Stanford grabbed my heart 30 years ago, and I never looked back,” Byerwalter said.
After earning an MBA from Harvard University, Byerwalter became involved with the Stanford Alumni Association in 1985. She went on to serve as chief financial officer and vice president for Business Affairs at Stanford, and between 1992 and 2012, Byerwalter served three terms on the Stanford University Board of Trustees, where she chaired the trustee committee on the medical center.
A former entrepreneur who currently serves as director of the nonprofit research institute SRI International, Byerwalter has been a member of SHC’s board of directors for 15 years, including an eight-year term as its chair. She is also on the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital board of directors and chairs the Stanford Medicine Advisory Council. Her dedication has earned her the 2015 Gold Spike Award for volunteer service and leadership, as well as the 2015 School of Medicine Dean’s Medal.
“It’s been an inspiration and a privilege to be part of an organization that has such a broad impact,” Byerwalter said.
Stanford School of Medicine dean Lloyd Minor and SHC Board of Directors chair John Levin, who led the Board Transition Committee, both praised Byerwalter’s commitment to the University.
“Mariann Byerwalter brings an unparalleled background to the position. She has longstanding ties to Stanford, knows the institution well and has been extraordinarily dedicated to the success of the University and to Stanford Medicine for many years,” Minor said in an email to The Daily. “We are very fortunate she has agreed to assume this role while we search for a new leader.”
The Board Transition Committee, formed last month after Rubin announced that he would be stepping down, is continuing its nationwide search for a permanent successor. The search process is still in its preliminary stages, and an approximate timeline for the successor’s selection remains unannounced.
Contact Francesca Mae Lupia at flupia ‘at’ stanford.edu.