UPDATE: College of Medicine hires new associate dean, two others
The position of associate dean of medical education has been filled according to internal communications from the University of Minnesota.
University Provost Gary Shapiro has confirmed the appointment.
Dr. Linda C. Perkowski, the subject of an open forum April 21, has been hired to fill the position made available when Dr. Nehad El-Sawi vacated in January, where she serves as associate dean for curriculum and evaluation.
A message from her current employer, the UMN Medical School, was sent July 1, but it is unclear when Perkowski was chosen for the position.
Perkowski will begin in September, but Shapiro did not have a specific start date.
Joining Perkowski from the UMN Medical School is Dr. W. Robert Fleischmann, a professor who will teach biomedical science at CMU. Fleischmann is currently researching a cancer vaccine, which he will continue after the transition.
He will return two weeks each year to the UMN Medical School to teach at its Duluth, Minn. campus.
Perkowski contributed to a report in January with CMED Dean Dr. Ernest Yoder.
Dr. Aaron Friedman, dean of the UMN school, said Perkowski would continue working with his university as they prepare for Liaison Committee on Medical Education reaccreditation in March 2012.
“We are pleased that Linda and Bob have found positions that, for each of them, resonate with their strengths and allow them to continue to contribute to academic medicine,” Friedman said.
The other candidate for the associate dean position, Joel Lanphear, has also been hired by CMU as a consultant, Shapiro said.
He said Lanphear has already started work, but gave no reason why Perkowski was chosen over Lanphear for the associate dean position.
The trio was hired because they were needed, Shapiro said.
El-Sawi left in January for unspecified reasons, receiving nearly a quarter-million dollars in total compensation for her just-over six months work.
Three weeks after El-Sawi's resignation was announced, the College of Medicine postponed opening for a year, which the university said was unrelated to El-Sawi's departure and necessary to have sufficient time for LCME accreditation.
The position has been vacant since, but Yoder has said El-Sawi's responsibilities were absorbed by other staff members.
Shapiro had no further information on the hirings and said to contact Yoder. Shapiro said the university and CMED continue to proceed on submitting the LCME accreditation application.
Early Tuesday, Yoder declined comment and directed CM Life to contact University Communications. Director of Public Relations Steve Smith also refused to comment.
