Marjorie Jenkins

Biography

Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, professor of internal medicine and former dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (USCSOMG), became UND's vice president for Health Affairs and dean of North Dakota's only School of Medicine & Health Sciences on Dec. 1, 2024.

At UND, in the dual role of vice president and dean, Jenkins serves both as chief fiduciary officer for the University’s Division of Health Affairs and chief academic officer for the School of Medicine & Health Sciences. As such, she leads biennial budget recommendations and fundraising plans while also providing operational leadership for the School’s academic and research programs.

Jenkins has held executive leadership positions across academia and the federal government. In addition to her service as dean, Jenkins served as associate provost for the University of South Carolina and chief academic officer for Prisma Health-Upstate, a 1,600-bed, nonprofit health care system.

During her time as dean, USCSOMG received its first eight-year Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation and the first of several grants from the National Institutes of Health. Jenkins also helped launch the school’s first three-year Primary Care Accelerated Track program to provide family medicine providers to rural South Carolina.

Prior to her roles in South Carolina, Jenkins spent her academic career at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where she was the founding executive director and chief scientific officer for the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health Research. She also held the titles of the J. Avery Rush Endowed Chair for Excellence in Women’s Health Research, associate dean for Women Faculty and tenured professor of Internal Medicine. A distinguished academic administrator, Jenkins also is an award-winning expert in women’s health and sex- and gender-based medicine.

At Texas Tech, Jenkins steered the Laura W. Bush Institute to global recognition and statewide growth across five campuses and schools of health professions.

From 2015 to 2019, while at Texas Tech, Jenkins also served as director of Medical Initiatives and Research Programs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women’s Health.

Throughout her career, Jenkins has worked with academic philanthropy teams to raise $30 million to support research endowments, student scholarships and medical education. She has delivered more than 150 presentations to worldwide audiences, co-authored numerous scientific works and served as an expert advisor to several National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration and NASA efforts.

Jenkins earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University, her M.D. at East Tennessee State University and her master’s degree in Education for Health Professionals at Johns Hopkins University.