AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Officials with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center announced that TTUHSC, Executive Vice President and School of Medicine Dean Dr. Steven L. Berk has died.

According to a TTUHSC press release, Dr. Berk led TTUHSC medical school for 17 years, holding the positions of regional dean of the Amarillo campus, professor of medicine, and the Mirick-Myers Endowed Chair in Geriatric Medicine. Officials said he was appointed dean of the School of Medicine in 2006 and executive vice president for Clinical Affairs in 2010.

The release states that Dr. Berk helped the School of Medicine grow with his forward-thinking ideas, his vision, and how he could build strong relationships with our hospital partners. Officials said he focused on the importance of education, research, clinical care, and service to the community.

Officials added that Dr. Berk recently shared his excitement for the 10-year anniversary of the first-graduating Family Medicine Accelerated Track program, the first program of its kind in the country that he created as an approach to addressing the shortage of primary care physicians. Officials said he was equally pleased that the School of Medicine was ranked one of the top medical schools in the country for producing family medicine physicians.

Dr. Berk’s leadership helped the following School of Medicine programs including:

• The creation of the Covenant Branch Campus for third- and four-year clerkship training
• The medical student barbershop hypertension program
• Deans’ Ambassadors
• The Clinical Research Institute
• The Department of Medical Education
• The Women’s Health Research Institute of Amarillo and the Lubbock medical student-led free clinic.