Kennedy Krieger Institute leader to retire this year

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Dr. Gary W. Goldstein, president and CEO of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, will retire later this year, the institute announced Monday.

Goldstein has led the Baltimore-based institute for 30 years and will retire once a successor has been named. Kennedy Krieger has launched a national search to find the next CEO.

“It has been a great privilege to lead Kennedy Krieger Institute over the past 30 years,” Goldstein said in a statement. “Through our interdisciplinary approach to patient care, research, professional training and special education, we have positively impacted hundreds of thousands of children, young adults and families. We’ve grown to become one of the largest academic institutions in the world serving children with developmental disorders and their families.”

The Kennedy Krieger Institute serves children and adolescents with disorders and injuries of the brain, spinal cord and muscoskeletal system. Its services include inpatient care, outpatient care, home and community services and school-based programs.

Those services grew dramatically during Goldstein’s leadership. In 1987, the institute treated 2,700 patients. Last year, it treated 24,000.

The center’s funding significantly increased during Goldstein’s tenure, from $700,000 to more than $30 million last year.

Those school-based programs also increased over 30 years. The institute educated 41 students when Goldstein took over. During his tenure, it added two campuses for students with disabilities in Baltimore and another campus in Montgomery County. The institute now teaches more than 500 students a year.

“Dr. Goldstein has taken research at the institute to the next level, in terms of the professionals he’s brought on board and the facilities he’s promoted,” said Dr. Amy Bastian, chief science officer for the institute, in a statement. “He constantly challenges us to think about not only the science behind the research but also the children who are living with a serious or rare disease — the children we want our discoveries to help.”

In addition to his duties leading the institute, Goldstein serves as a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a Kennedy Krieger partner.

When he retires, Goldstein plans on continuing to work as a fundraiser for the Kennedy Krieger Foundation.