UTMB president Ben Raimer resigns after being placed on administrative leave

Dr. Ben Raimer on Monday resigned as president of the University of Texas Medical Branch, two weeks after he was placed on administrative leave, according to an email to faculty. The email from University of Texas System Chancellor James Milliken said the resignation is effective immediately. Dr. Charles Mouton, executive vice president, provost and dean of the John Sealy School of Medicine, will serve as interim president while the system begins a national search for a new leader. The UT system has not shed any light on the reason for the longtime UTMB leader’s departure. Raimer started as a student in the graduate and medical schools and in 1993 became the senior vice president of health policy and legislative affairs. He led the university through the pandemic, first as the interim president and later as the permanent head.

“Dr. Raimer has dedicated much of his professional career to UTMB, both as a physician and an administrative leader, and we are grateful for his service,” Milliken said in his email. “We are also grateful to the UTMB faculty, staff, researchers, clinicians, and community leaders, whose dedication to the university and hard work has made UTMB the extraordinary institution it is today. Like you, I look forward to supporting UTMB’s impressive trajectory and celebrating its ongoing successes.” The decision to place Raimer on administrative leave earlier this month surprised faculty members who knew him. At the time, the UT System said the move was not “in any way connected to the operations at UTMB or the Galveston National Lab.” The lab has come under scrutiny over written agreements with three Chinese research labs, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been the subject of speculation over whether the virus that causes COVID-19 leaked from its facility.