Dean, OHSU School of Medicine
Executive Vice President, OHSU

Nathan R. Selden, M.D., Ph.D., was appointed Dean of the OHSU School of Medicine on June 20, 2024. He is a professor of neurological surgery, holds the Mario and Edith Campagna Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery, and has served as interim dean of the School of Medicine since February. 

Dr. Selden joined OHSU and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in 2000 as an assistant professor of neurological surgery. He has led major expansions of the neurosurgery residency training program, the division of pediatric neurosurgery and the department of neurological surgery, where he served as chair for the past eight years.

He has also led the effort to create partnerships in the clinical neurosciences with Legacy Health. The relationships he has built with key Legacy Health leaders and his own experience as a staff neurosurgeon at Randall Children’s Hospital provide a strong foundation as OHSU and Legacy embark on the next steps of our groundbreaking integration.

Dr. Selden’s scientific research has focused on central mechanisms of pain sensation. He was the co-principal investigator and surgeon for the first-ever trial of human neural stem cell therapy. He also researches outcomes for neurosurgical care delivered to children with spinal congenital malformations and is an author of the Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Guidelines, which are used around North America and in many countries around the world to improve the care of seriously injured children. 

He has a national and international reputation for studying new methods of neurosurgical education and continuing education that promote patient safety and quality. He is a past-president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, one of the largest neurosurgical professional organizations in the world, is currently president of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, the world’s oldest academic neurosurgical society, and is vice-chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. In 2013, he received the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Parker Palmer Courage to Teach Award.

Dr. Selden earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a Ph.D. from Cambridge University as a British Marshall Scholar, and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, and a fellowship in pediatric neurological surgery at Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago. 

A prolific writer, Dr. Selden has published over 200 articles related to neurosurgical science, clinical care, and education. In addition, with Professor Nigel Nicholson (Dean Emeritus of Reed College), he authored The Rhetoric of Medicine: Lessons on Professionalism from Ancient Greece (Oxford University Press, 2019). He is also Editor of the acclaimed 7 volume series, Neurosurgery by Example (Oxford University Press, 2018-2019) and of its Pediatric Neurosurgery volume (with Dr. Lissa Baird).