

University of California San Francisco
Photo: Elisabeth Fall
International lung disorder expert, visionary leader, Harvard graduate, member of prestigious scientific societies – and now dean of UCSF’s top-ranked School of Medicine. Talmadge King Jr. assumed the helm of the school in July, after almost 20 years in leadership positions at UCSF, including chair of the Department of Medicine. We wanted to know what makes this impressive physician-scientist tick, and he was happy to oblige.
You have to be passionate about what you do. You have to find the right people and put them in the right positions. You also have to understand people and how they work, because your job is to help them succeed. I’m hoping I have some of those features and can share them and help make life better for everybody.
For education, my vision is to guide our students to the greatness we know they can achieve. For research, it’s to have the resources and structure in place so our scientists can innovate and move forward. For clinical care, we should constantly be asking, “Is there a better way of doing this? How can we help our patients and help other physicians do a better job with their patients?”
My mother used to always tell us “Just be nice.” One of Maya Angelou’s quotes that resonated with me is, “You shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.” Another is, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I have two granddaughters, ages 5 and 9, and it’s being able to spend time with them without worrying about all the things you do as a parent. You just allow the pure joy of the relationship to exist. And when I’m tired, I can take them back to their parents!
The Digital Doctor, by my friend and colleague [UCSF Professor] Bob Wachter. The other one on my bedside is Missing Microbes, which is about how antibiotics are destroying the microbiomes in our bodies.
Meeting the amazing individuals who work here. There are so many people who are dedicated to making the world a better place. That makes it fun to come to work.
It takes a long time before people benefit from advances in medicine. If we could figure out a way to do really good research, figure out things that change people’s lives, and then get them to the people faster, that would be really helpful. I also think health care in the U.S. should be universally available to everybody. It’s the right thing to do and also the most cost effective.
I’ve been married to my wife, Mozelle, for 47 years. I have to say that she keeps trying to make me a better man. It’s been a hard job. Professionally, it’s hard to name one person. At every step, there was someone who really was helpful to me.
If you really believe that you want to work in an environment where you can help people, this is one of the few where you can do that on a daily basis. You can make a difference and actually see that difference in the lives of the people you touch. It’s a tremendous career.