Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM
Executive Vice President, Chief Academic Officer
As executive vice president of USF Health, Dr. Lockwood leads the Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM), the Taneja College of Pharmacy, and the Colleges of Nursing and Public Health, Schools of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and Graduate Biomedical Sciences and the Athletic Training and Physician Assistant programs. He also oversees the USF Health faculty group practice, which with more than 1,000 providers is one of the largest multi-specialty practices in Florida. Dr. Lockwood also serves as the MCOM dean and as a professor in its Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. He holds a secondary appointment as a professor in the USF College of Public Health. Dr. Lockwood assumed all these leadership roles when he joined USF Health in May 2014 and has served as executive vice president and chief academic officer at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) since 2015. In 2025, USF named him a Distinguished University Professor.
He is one of the longest-serving medical school deans in the nation.
As dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, Dr. Lockwood has overseen a major re-organization of all three missions — education, research, and patient care. Applications to the school have increased 36% since 2014, while the median MCAT score has increased from the 78th to 98th percentile (521) and the mean GPA of matriculants has increased from 3.5 to 3.98. Student performance on the USMLE Step 1 and 2 exams has dramatically improved with pass rates and Step 2 scores amongst the highest in the nation. Over 97% of students complete research theses.
Beginning in 2015, Dr. Lockwood focused recruitment of investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on newly created cardiovascular and neuroscience institutes and a global infectious disease program. Because of aggressive recruitment, total MCOM faculty research awards, including that of faculty based at USF Health affiliates, increased from $128 million in 2014 to $ $456 million in 2026 and NIH grant awards increased from $72 million to around $186 million. Dr. Lockwood helped establish several novel cross-campus transdisciplinary programs, such as a Medical Engineering Department, as well as Neuroscience and Heart institutes and the Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation. Driven by these successes, MCOM’s U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) research ranking has climbed from 80th in 2014 to being in Tier 1 and among the top 16 medically schools nationally in 2025 and 2026. MCOM now has nine academic departments that rank among the top 50 in the nation for NIH-funded research. The medical school’s dramatic increase in research funding significantly contributed to USF’s invitation to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), the premier organization of North American research universities, in 2023.
From fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2026 the faculty practice patient volume doubled to over 1.4 million annual encounters, revenue increased from $180 to 550 million substantial improvements in the practice’s Vizient AQA scores and Press-Ganey patient satisfaction scores were achieved. In 2020, USF Health completed an enhanced affiliation agreement with its primary teaching hospital, Tampa General, that includes integration of clinical services to form a robust, financially sound academic health center. The core of the integration is a 1,600-person management service organization, jointly owned by the university and hospital, termed USF Tampa General Physicians. This integration “de-risks” the university, has provided much needed capital for expansion, and increases academic mission support. In 2024, USF and TGH revised and expanded this agreement to provide a historic new alignment between the two organizations that allows USF Health to expand across all three mission areas. Multiple TGH clinical service lines have been formed led by USF faculty and there are now 5 specialties at TGH ranked in the top 50 in the nation, with another 4 ranked among the top 10% nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.
He is one of the longest-serving medical school deans in the nation.
As dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, Dr. Lockwood has overseen a major re-organization of all three missions — education, research, and patient care. Applications to the school have increased 36% since 2014, while the median MCAT score has increased from the 78th to 98th percentile (521) and the mean GPA of matriculants has increased from 3.5 to 3.98. Student performance on the USMLE Step 1 and 2 exams has dramatically improved with pass rates and Step 2 scores amongst the highest in the nation. Over 97% of students complete research theses.
Beginning in 2015, Dr. Lockwood focused recruitment of investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on newly created cardiovascular and neuroscience institutes and a global infectious disease program. Because of aggressive recruitment, total MCOM faculty research awards, including that of faculty based at USF Health affiliates, increased from $128 million in 2014 to $ $456 million in 2026 and NIH grant awards increased from $72 million to around $186 million. Dr. Lockwood helped establish several novel cross-campus transdisciplinary programs, such as a Medical Engineering Department, as well as Neuroscience and Heart institutes and the Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation. Driven by these successes, MCOM’s U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) research ranking has climbed from 80th in 2014 to being in Tier 1 and among the top 16 medically schools nationally in 2025 and 2026. MCOM now has nine academic departments that rank among the top 50 in the nation for NIH-funded research. The medical school’s dramatic increase in research funding significantly contributed to USF’s invitation to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), the premier organization of North American research universities, in 2023.
From fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2026 the faculty practice patient volume doubled to over 1.4 million annual encounters, revenue increased from $180 to 550 million substantial improvements in the practice’s Vizient AQA scores and Press-Ganey patient satisfaction scores were achieved. In 2020, USF Health completed an enhanced affiliation agreement with its primary teaching hospital, Tampa General, that includes integration of clinical services to form a robust, financially sound academic health center. The core of the integration is a 1,600-person management service organization, jointly owned by the university and hospital, termed USF Tampa General Physicians. This integration “de-risks” the university, has provided much needed capital for expansion, and increases academic mission support. In 2024, USF and TGH revised and expanded this agreement to provide a historic new alignment between the two organizations that allows USF Health to expand across all three mission areas. Multiple TGH clinical service lines have been formed led by USF faculty and there are now 5 specialties at TGH ranked in the top 50 in the nation, with another 4 ranked among the top 10% nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.