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Brigham and Women’s Hospital President Robert S.D. Higgins is stepping down, Mass General Brigham President Anne Klibanski announced in an email last week.

Higgins, who served as president for two years, will become president and chief academic officer at Rush University in Chicago. He will also serve as chief academic officer and senior vice president of Rush University System for Health.

Higgins wrote in an email to hospital staff last week that he is “proud of the hard work that we’ve done together to advance our journey to become an integrated academic health system.”

“I’m incredibly excited about the new opportunity before me in Chicago and returning to the place that my family and I call home,” he added.

Higgins served as Rush’s cardiothoracic surgery department chair from 2003 to 2010.

Klibanski wrote in an email that Higgins played a “key role” in advancing the hospital’s service line integration work, instituting diversity and inclusion efforts, supporting partnerships with local communities, and establishing the urology department.

“I am so very grateful for Bob’s leadership, support and partnership during a critical time in our journey to become a truly integrated academic health system,” Klibanski wrote.

“I know he will make an incredible impact in the lives of the students and researchers at RUSH,” she added.

Giles Boland, executive vice president of Mass General Brigham, will serve as interim president.

“Bob and Giles will work together closely to ensure a seamless transition, especially during this critical time of planning across our system,” Klibanski wrote.

—Staff writer Veronica H. Paulus can be reached at veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @VeronicaHPaulus.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.