Dr. Lewis Landsberg, dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine since April 2000, announced Wednesday that he will step down from his position as the school’s dean and vice president for medical affairs at Northwestern University.

In an e-mail to Feinberg staff members, NU Provost Lawrence Dumas said he and President Henry Bienen accepted Landsberg’s decision “with regret, with the understanding that he deserves to be released from the many responsibilities of this enormously important and challenging position, and with enormous gratitude for all he has done to strengthen the school as dean and, earlier, as department chair.”

Landsberg was appointed interim dean in August 1999 after serving as the chair of Feinberg’s department of medicine. Landsberg informed Dumas and Bienen of his decision during the summer, and his resignation will take effect July 1, 2007, Dumas wrote.

Landsberg’s resignation is “not a reflection of any bitterness or unhappiness,” said Jeffrey Miller, Feinberg’s senior executive associate dean and chief operating officer. Miller praised Landsberg as a decisive and visionary leader who succeeded in recruiting new talent to the school.

“He’s been very effective as a fundraiser, which is often a challenge for physicians who were educated to do a lot of things, but asking for money is not one of them,” he said.

Over the past seven years, the medical school’s endowment has increased from $685 million to more than $1 billion, Dumas wrote.

Miller said he expects Landsberg, who specializes in endocrinology, to take a short sabbatical before returning to work.

“One of the benefits of stepping down as dean is he’ll have time to pursue in more depth his lifelong passion for prevention and treatment of obesity,” he said.

-Evan Hill