Dr. Arthur Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, announced Wednesday that he will soon step down from those positions, according to a press release.

Levine joined the University more than 20 years ago as a professor of medicine and molecular genetics. He will remain in his leadership positions until the University can find a replacement, but in the meantime will transition to a new research laboratory within Pitt’s Brain Institute to study Alzheimer’s disease.

In an email sent to the University, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher commended Levine’s achievements. Among them is a medical school curriculum change instituted in 2004 that requires medical students to conduct an independent research project over their four years of learning, a stipulation that has since been adopted at many other universities. He also oversaw the opening of 10 departments within Pitt’s School of Medicine, including the nation’s first Department of Critical Care in Medicine in 2002.

“Art’s dedication to advancing the University’s mission of leveraging knowledge for society’s gain is truly extraordinary and has helped shape this institution — for the better — in indelible ways,” Gallagher wrote in the email.

Levine is the University’s top-paid executive in terms of base salary, with a 2019 base salary of $891,667.