Office of the President
Johnny Stephens, Pharm.D., President
Dr. Johnny Stephens was named president of OSU Center for Health Sciences on Sept. 10, 2021. He previously served as chief operating officer and senior vice president at OSU-CHS.
Stephens is also serving as interim president of OSU-Tulsa and senior vice president of health affairs for Oklahoma State University.
Stephens is leading a $334 million capital development project in downtown Tulsa to expand the OSU health care district to include a new Veterans Hospital, mental health hospital and parking garage to complement the existing OSU Medical Center. This project will receive $120 million in federal funding.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the nation’s first tribally affiliated medical school – the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation that opened in August 2020. Stephens also works closely with Oklahoma legislative leaders to secure funding to support the OSU Medical Center, the teaching hospital of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as to support graduate medical education.
He oversees the CHS campus master planning and capital projects including renovation of existing facilities, the construction of the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Medical Academic Building and the new North Hall set to be completed in May 2022.
Stephens earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in 1999. He completed his fellowship in infectious diseases at OU and was an assistant professor of Pharmacy at OU Health Sciences Center for four years. In 2006 he joined the department of Internal Medicine at OSU Center for Health Sciences where he continues as Professor of Medicine.
At OSU-CHS, he was an avid researcher and educator in the areas of AIDS and infectious diseases before taking on increased administrative responsibilities, first as vice chair of the department of Internal Medicine and then as assistant dean of Research.
In 2014, he was promoted to chief operating officer and interim vice president of Research. In 2016, he was named chief operating officer and senior vice president of OSU-CHS.
Stephens serves on the Governor’s Science and innovation Council. He also serves on the boards of the Oklahoma Physicians Resources/Research Network, Health Outreach Prevention Education, Inc. (H.O.P.E.) and the Osteopathic Medical Education Consortium of Oklahoma (OMECO), as well as a member of more than a dozen professional organizations.