Lisa Cuddy serves as Princeton-Plainsboro’s dean of medicine in House M.D.
Cuddy is played by Lisa Edelstein and is responsible for hospital administration, staffing, budgets, policies, and patient-care oversight. Her position places her above House within the institution, although she frequently allows him latitude because his diagnostic department solves cases other doctors cannot.
The character’s relationship with House is a major part of the series. Cuddy must balance admiration for House’s medical ability with frustration over his rule-breaking, drug use, and disregard for hospital procedures. Their professional conflict eventually develops into a romantic relationship, creating additional pressure between administrative authority and personal attachment.
Cuddy is sometimes described simply as the hospital administrator, but her formal role in the series is dean of medicine. Lisa Edelstein played the character through the seventh season and did not appear as a regular cast member in the eighth season.