Dr. Robert M. Glickman, Blumgart Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will become the new dean of New York University (NYU) Medical School this summer.

For the past nine years, Glickman has been physician-in-chief and chair of the department of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Harvard-affiliated hospital.

Glickman said his move represents a career-path decision.

"It was an attractive leadership opportunity at a major medical school, and I think it represents a school that wants to grow and reshape some of its programs," he said.

In his new position, Glickman said he hopes to revitalize NYU's medical school.

"The medical school curriculum...has to be further strengthened," he said. "An important area will be to try to recruit scientists and educators."

Glickman said the move from Harvard to NYU is "not born out of any disappointment or frustration of any kind."

Currently, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center lacks a replacement for Glickman.

"Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, its trustees and the Dean of Harvard Medical School will be determining the process of recruiting a new physician-in-chief over the coming few weeks," said Dr. Mitchell T. Rabkin, CEO of Caregroup, the hospital's parent organization, in a statement.

Before coming to Harvard, Glickman served as Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Hospital, in Boston, and the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, in New York.

The New York Times ran a brief today lauding the Glickman decision as "a coup for NYU." In a reference to Waggoner Professor of Economics Robert J. Barro's recent decision to turn down a $300,000 annual salary at Columbia to remain at Harvard, the Times writes, "New York University appears to have succeeded where Columbia University failed."