Craig Hillemeier, the dean of Penn State’s College of Medicine, is set to retire after 18 years with the university. Hillemeier has also served as CEO of Penn State Health and the senior vice president for health affairs.

Hillemeier played an important role in the expansion of Penn State’s clinical and academic operations that include the Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Children’s Hospital, Penn State Health St. Joseph in Berks County, and Penn State Health Medical Group.

In 2012, he led the charge in the opening of Penn State Children’s Hospital, which was just a unit on the seventh floor of the Hershey Medical Center when he arrived at Penn State back in 2001.

Currently, he’s at the forefront for the creation of a proposed Innovation Pavilion on the Hershey campus of the College of Medicine. This new facility will help grow the research and education missions of the College of Medicine while also paving the way for scientific discovery.

In addition to those responsibilities, he was the head of an institution in the College of Medicine that provides an education to around 1,000 students in a variety of degree programs every semester. Hillemeier was key in revising the medical school curriculum to its modern state.

“Both Penn State Health and the College of Medicine are experiencing a period of unprecedented growth and positive change, much of it coming under Craig’s thoughtful leadership,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in a release. “He will be missed by the students, faculty, physicians, nurses, and staff who teach, learn, and work alongside him.”