Joe G.N. "Skip" Garcia, MD, senior vice president for health sciences at Tucson-based Arizona Health Sciences Center, resigned from his post Thursday, according to Tucson.com.
In his role, Dr. Garcia oversaw the university's two medical schools — the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson — as well as the UA College of Pharmacy, the UA College of Nursing and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Dr. Garcia reportedly stepped down from his administrative role in order to "devote more time to being a medical school professor and to his expanding research portfolio," according to the article.
Dr. Garcia will continue to serve as a researcher and professor at the UA College of Medicine-Tucson. Under the terms of his contract, Dr. Garcia will continue to receive an annual salary of $870,000 for two more years, according to the report.
"I am proud to have been able to have had such a strong impact on health science at the University of Arizona and am pleased to be able to continue to contribute to this important effort through my scientific research, teaching and clinical work," Dr. Garcia said in a statement.
The UA plans to appoint an interim senior vice president in the near future.