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Peter Rock, MD, MBA, FCCM, the former Dr. Martin Helrich Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of BOB体育 (UMSOM), announced recently that he will retire at the end of June after a distinguished 19-year academic career at the UMSOM, including 17 years as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology.

In his honor, the Peter Rock, MD, MBA Professorship in Anesthesiology and Perioperative BOB体育 has been established.

"Dr. Rock has been a tremendous physician and academic leader in the School of BOB体育 and Medical Center for many years, and we are deeply grateful for his longstanding dedication and service," said UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, who is Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. "As Department Chair, he led a period of unprecedented growth and success-- significantly expanding the residency program, growing clinical services, and building one of the top departments for NIH funding in the nation.  He also played a vital role with the University of Maryland Faculty Physicians (FPI) and as a faculty leader on information technology, clinical research, and other governance issues. We are proud to establish this professorship in his name.”

Dr. Rock was appointed the Dr. Martin Helrich Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at UMSOM in December 2006. Under the nearly 17 years of his leadership, the department was transformed, growing significantly in size and scope, and became a leader in the field of anesthesiology. The department embraced the use of certified registered nurse anesthetists and increased the size of its residency by about 25 percent, allowing the department to care for the rapidly growing number of surgeries and procedures. The department now provides clinical services at five different locations. At the time Dr. Rock stepped down as Chair, the department was ranked 10^th in the U.S. for National Institutes of Health funding, cementing its status as an elite, top 10 ranked program.

"It is a great honor to have a professorship named after me and I am very grateful to Dean Gladwin and the Department of Anesthesiology for this recognition,” said Dr. Rock.

Dr. Rock's contributions to the School of BOB体育, FPI, UMMC, and the UMB campus have been numerous. He recruited talented faculty members, expanded the department's research initiatives, increased to seven the number of departmental endowed professorships, and implemented new educational programs.

Over the many years of his leadership, the size of the overall anesthesiology faculty grew by 44 percent, and research-intensive faculty has nearly tripled. He has also been a strong advocate for patient safety and has worked tirelessly to ensure that the department maintains the highest standards of care. During his time as Chair, Dr. Rock has trained hundreds of residents, fellows, and students, and personally conducted a weekly teaching conference for his residents and medical students. Dr. Rock also focused on faculty development, implementing a formal mentoring and evaluation system, resulting in the promotion and granting of tenure of many departmental faculty. Five anesthesiology faculty serving under Dr. Rock’s leadership have become Chairs at academic anesthesiology departments. He additionally created a more diverse faculty and residency, strengthened the department's inclusiveness, and appointed division chiefs, vice chairs, and other departmental leaders from a wide range of backgrounds. 

Dr. Rock served as the President of the UMMC Medical Staff and on numerous committees of the UMSOM and FPI, including chairing the FPI Governance Committee that guided the establishment of FPI's new unified group practice, UM Faculty Physicians, and then served as its Interim Senior Vice President. Dr. Rock 's leadership of various IT initiatives in the UMSOM and on the UMMC campus included adoption of the Quantum Financial system, campus-wide unified email, office productivity and collaboration tools, and improved IT security.

He served as a member of UMB’s Institutional Review Board, led the UMSOM Clinical Trials Oversight Committee, and was on the Executive Committee of the UMB Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research (CACPR), Dr. Rock also chaired the Dean's Behavior Advisory Committee (DBAC), a UMSOM committee charged with fostering faculty professionalism. After he stepped down as Chair, he also undertook leading special academic committees and projects for the Dean's office and UMSOM.

Dr. Rock received his bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of BOB体育. After completing a residency in Internal BOB体育, a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine, and a residency in anesthesiology at Hopkins, he joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of BOB体育 in the departments of medicine and anesthesiology, where he served from 1986 to 1995. Later, he also completed a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Washington University's Olin School of Business.

Prior to arriving at the University of Maryland, Dr. Rock served on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was the Vice-Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, and the faculty of the Washington University School of BOB体育. During this time, he also led clinical divisions and assumed progressive leadership roles in the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Association of University Anesthesiologists. For many years he was a senior examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. He was also President of the Society of Academic Associations of Anesthesiology and Perioperative BOB体育. He has been funded by the NIH, DOD, and industry, and his research on acute lung injury, septic shock, pulmonary circulation, and outcomes after anesthesia and surgery has been internationally recognized. He is the author or co-author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and book chapters. He is the principal investigator of the University of Maryland Perioperative Data Warehouse, which houses more than 450,000 records of patients who have undergone anesthesia and surgery. He has previously been honored by Baltimore Magazine as a “Top Doctor" and as a "Super Doctor" by the Washington Post Magazine.

Since stepping down as Chair in 2023, Dr. Rock has continued focusing on his research, teaching residents and students, and promoting safety and quality. He has led the Anesthesiology Department 's efforts in Clinical Research, centered around prospective trials to improve outcomes after surgery, trauma, and critical illness, retrospective studies, and AI and Machine Learning, increasing the Department’s funded clinical research. Dr. Rock served as FPI's Special Project Leader for the High Reliability Organization (HRO) undertaking being conducted by UMMS in partnership with the UMSOM and FPI. He has served as a mentor to Sam Galvagno, DO, PhD, and Matthew Tulis, MD, in their roles as Interim Chairs of the Department.

"The Department of Anesthesiology is incredibly grateful for Dr. Rock's 17 years of devoted leadership," said Dr. Tulis. "The success and stability that we enjoy today is a credit to his vision and steadfast commitment to upholding the highest standards of excellence across our clinical, education and research missions.  The department intends to honor his legacy by building on these strong foundations.  We will draw inspiration from his wisdom and mentorship as we strive to achieve further success in the future."

Added Thomas M. Scalea, MD, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery and Physician-in-Chief of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center: "Peter Rock has always been the quintessential collaborator. During his tenure as Chair, we partnered clinically, academically, and administratively. Pete and I jointly worked to create a critical care effort that spans UMMC and other UMMS institutions. We jointly recruited high-quality faculty to one of the few Divisions of Trauma Anesthesiology in existence, helping to establish Trauma Anesthesiology as a distinct sub-specialty. We created the Shock Trauma and Anesthesiology Research Center (STAR), which has attracted many millions of federal funding, advancing the care of injured and critically ill patients. Pete has always been an innovator, refusing to be constrained by dogma not supported by data."

Dr. Rock added, "It has been a privilege to serve as the Chair and faculty member in the Department of Anesthesiology, and to work over the years with an outstanding group of clinicians, educators, and scientists,” said Dr. Rock. "During my years as Chair, there have been many changes in healthcare, but what hasn't changed has been the outstanding qualities of our people – faculty, residents, CRNAs, staff, and the many learners I have had the privilege to teach.  It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve with such an outstanding group of dedicated, hardworking, compassionate, altruistic, inquisitive, innovative, and loyal individuals.

"I am appreciative of the trust shown in me by Dean Wilson, who hired me and who believed that I could build a world-class department. I am grateful to Dean Reece, who mentored me and in all ways supported the department. I am also grateful to Dean Gladwin, who has been very supportive of me and the department and whose support has been instrumental to the continued development and growth of our department. I also am grateful to and appreciative of all my many colleagues and friends in the School, UMB Campus, UMMC, and UMMS whose partnership, advice, and support has been invaluable. I will miss the many friends I have here at UMB and I hope to remain of service in some capacity to the department, SOM, and campus as an emeritus professor after I retire.

"I know the School and the Department are in very good hands. Dr. Tulis is doing a terrific job as interim chair, and I am very optimistic about the future of the UMSOM and FPI under the leadership of Dean Gladwin and Dr. Regine, and I know they will lead us to even greater success.”