April 24, 2018

Carsten Schultz, Ph.D., professor and chair of physiology and pharmacology, OHSU School of Medicine, was appointed April 16 as the inaugural recipient of the Helen Jo Whitsell Dean's Leadership Professorship. School of Medicine Dean Sharon Anderson, M.D. and OHSU Provost Elena Andresen, Ph.D., presided over an investiture attended by Dr. Schultz, Bill and Helen Jo Whitsell, and members of the OHSU Foundation.

Dr. Schultz, recruited to OHSU in Oct. 2016, received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Bremen in 1989. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, in 1993 before returning to Germany to take up a position at the University of Bremen. After a short appointment at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, he spent 17 years with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory—Heidelberg, where he served as a group leader since 2001 and a senior scientist since 2008 with the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit. He has been a member of the German Center for Lung Research since 2011 and associate editor of Chemical Science since 2015.

An active educator and mentor, Dr. Schultz has supervised more than 20 Ph.D. students and 30 postdoctoral fellows during the course of his scientific career. His general research interest focuses on bringing the field of chemical biology closer to medicine and ultimately to the patient. Among the various topics of interest, his lab is actively engaged in better understanding how nutrition and the ingestion of drugs alter insulin secretion and in new methods to predict the outcome of cancer treatment.

Bill and Helen Jo Whitsell are well known for their decades-long commitment to Oregon and the Portland community as business owners and philanthropists. The Whitsells grew Copeland Lumber—a company started by Helen Jo's grandfather in 1912—into the 35th largest in the country with retail outlets in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona. Through the years, they have been active supporters and advocates of OHSU, most recently endowing professorships for Dr. Schultz and Alejandro Aballay, Ph.D. The Whitsells believe that people are OHSU's most important asset and are committed to helping OHSU achieve excellence by recruiting and retaining the very best talent. Their approach as leading university citizens reflects their generosity, pioneering spirit, entrepreneurial approach and visionary commitment.

Pictured (top, left to right): OHSU Provost Andresen, Bill Whitsell, Helen Jo Whitsell, Dr. Schultz, Nicole Heath, spouse of Dr. Schultz, Dean Anderson

(above, middle): Dr. Schultz addresses the audience during investiture ceremony 

(above, bottom): Helen Jo Whitsell, Bill Whitsell, OHSU Foundation Interim President Rebecca Auman