WSU College of Medicine dean search nearing its conclusion

Before we can apply for medical school accreditation, and before we can begin recruiting medical students, we must hire a dean for the soon-to-be-named WSU College of Medicine.

In May, we announced the search committee tasked with finding the first dean of the WSU College of Medicine.

That committee’s work should be complete within the next few weeks.

The committee narrowed its list of candidates to three finalists, all of whom visited campus in the past few weeks. The finalists are:

Dr. David Gozal – visited campus Aug. 19
Gozal is the Herbert T. Abelson Professor of Pediatrics Pritzker Scholar in the biological sciences division at the University of Chicago. He is a world-renowned pediatric sleep researcher and president of the Illinois Sleep Society.

Dr. Dawn DeWitt – visited campus Aug. 24
Dr. DeWitt is a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. She’s also the associate dean for the university’s MD Undergraduate Program. She was recently named governor of the British Columbia chapter of the American College of Physicians. Her professional interests are medical education and diabetes.

Dr. John Tomkowiak – visited campus Aug. 31
Dr. Tomkowiak is the dean of the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. He is also a professor and acting chair of the school’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences program.

A final hire is expected this month.

All three candidates spent time meeting with administration, faculty and staff during their visits to campus, and also met with WSU representatives from Pullman. Open forums and receptions were held for each candidate as well.

Once we hire a dean, we can then officially begin the accreditation process. We anticipate officially submitting our application for accreditation in December. For more on our medical school pursuit, brush up on our medical sciences program.