Dr. Barbara Jung joined the University of Washington Department of Medicine as its sixth chair on Sept. 1, 2019.
She has broken barriers in her career many times, and this was no exception. She is our first female chair, and the first external hire since the department’s first chair, Dr. Robert Williams. In 2023, she also became the 118th President of the American Gastroenterology Association and the organization’s 4th woman leader. At UC San Diego, she will be their first female dean.
Six months into her first year at the UW, the pandemic hit. She mounted a nationally recognized COVID response, jumpstarted our telehealth services, increased faculty productivity, and implemented an innovative strategy for financial mitigation. Her leadership during this unprecedented time was acknowledged by a nomination for the University of Washington’s highest leadership award early into her second year as chair.
