Jonathan Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and a key voice in the state’s understanding and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, will soon step down from the post he’s held for five years, the university announced last week.

Dubbed “Colorado’s Dr. Fauci” in the first months of the pandemic, Samet has served as the top administrator for the school since 2017, making him the longest-serving dean in its 14-year history.

When the pandemic began, he shifted the school’s focus toward support: A team of experts led by Samet conducted regular modeling on what the pandemic would bring to Colorado, projections that helped guide the state’s response. In its news release last week announcing Samet’s coming departure, CU-Anschutz lauded his efforts to work with both state and local public health authorities.

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A frequent presence in media reports about the pandemic, Samet was included in more than 1,300 media reports since the pandemic began, the university said.

“Important to me, over the five years that I have been dean, the school has more broadly embraced its mission as a critical resource for public health in the state, the region and beyond,” Samet, who is traveling this week, said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director of the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment, called Samet “one of the most sought after public health experts of our time.”

“His leadership of the school’s modeling team to advise us during the COVID-19 pandemic was critical to programming and decision making,” she said. 

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The public health school is a joint program between the University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Once administrators have hired the school’s fourth dean, Samet will stay on as a faculty member.

A pulmonary physician and public health expert by training, Samet came to Colorado from the University of Southern California, where he held leadership roles in both medicine and global health. He has a master’s degree in epidemiology from Harvard, as well as a medical degree from the University of Rochester. 

“Stepping away from being dean will allow me to continue to take on important public health challenges,” Samet said, “hopefully with more bandwidth than I have had over the last five years.”

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In the school’s announcement, CU-Anschutz Chancellor David Elliman hailed Samet for building an “enduring legacy” at the school, which included hiring an associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion; improving the school’s national rankings and funding; and improving relationships with other public health entities across Colorado.

“The interest in public health should be sustained, and the need for trained public health professionals should grow,” Samet said. “We are well-positioned to respond as Colorado’s only school of public health.”