In House M.D., what is Lisa Cuddy’s position at Princeton-Plainsboro for most of the series?

In House M.D., Lisa Cuddy is Princeton-Plainsboro’s Dean of Medicine for most of the series.

Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein, is the senior medical administrator responsible for overseeing the hospital’s clinical and institutional operations. Her position places her in frequent conflict with House, whose unconventional treatments, rule-breaking, and expensive investigations create administrative problems.

Although Cuddy supervises House, she also recognizes his exceptional diagnostic ability and repeatedly protects his department when its results justify the risks. Their relationship combines professional friction, mutual attraction, and disagreements about responsibility and boundaries.

The title is distinct from chief executive officer and from a department chair. A dean of medicine generally has broad authority over medical services and physicians within an institution. Cuddy’s administrative role is therefore central to the show’s recurring debates about patient care, hospital policy, and medical judgment.