Rate My Professor Steve Schwab

Steve Schwab, MD, is Professor Emeritus in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), which operates campuses across Tennessee including Knoxville as part of the University of Tennessee system. He earned his MD from the University of Missouri School of Medicine, completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Kansas Hospitals and Clinics, and pursued a fellowship in nephrology at Washington University School of Medicine at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. A native of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, he spent 18 years on the faculty at Duke University from 1985 to 2003, rising to the rank of professor and vice chair of the Department of Medicine. In 2003, he was appointed Regents Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, where he later served as chief clinical officer and interim dean.

In 2006, Dr. Schwab joined UTHSC as the first executive dean of the College of Medicine, overseeing campuses in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville. He became interim chancellor in 2009 and served as chancellor from 2010 until his retirement in 2022. Under his leadership, UTHSC executed a Campus Master Plan with over $300 million in construction projects, expanded statewide clinical partnerships into an integrated organization, doubled research grant awards to more than $120 million annually, tripled clinical enterprise revenue to over $300 million, enrolled over 3,300 students with approximately 1,400 residents and fellows, and achieved graduation rates and first-attempt board pass rates of 95% or higher. Internationally recognized for expertise in renal disease, chronic renal failure, and dialytic therapy, he has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and five books, directed multiple NIH-funded multicenter clinical trials, served on editorial boards of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Kidney International, and Clinical Nephrology, and acted as editor-in-chief of nephrology for UpToDate in Medicine. His honors include repeated selections for Best Doctors in America and America's Top Doctors over 12 years, the Duke University Eugene Stead Teaching Award, the National Kidney Foundation Distinguished Service Award, the American Heart Association Clinician-Scientist Award, and service on the American Board of Internal Medicine from 1996 to 2002. He delivered over 75 invited lectures at national and international conferences.