Wayne State University welcomes Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., M.D., who began his term this week as the 14th dean of its School of Medicine and special advisor to the president for medical affairs. Dr. Mentzer is a nationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon and medical school administrator with vast experience in medical education, research and clinical care. He was appointed by WSU President Irvin D. Reid and the WSU Board of Governors in November 2005 after a comprehensive one-year national search.
Dr. Mentzer joins WSU after serving as the Frank C. Spencer Professor and Chairman of Surgery at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine as well as director of the University of Kentucky Transplant Center. For eight years, Dr. Mentzer served as president and chairman of the college of medicine's faculty practice group, Kentucky Medical Services Foundation. He was also vice president of Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, the state's organ procurement organization.
Widely acknowledged as a skilled academic health center leader, Dr. Mentzer's qualifications are extensive. During his tenure at the University of Kentucky , the Department of Surgery emerged as a model for innovation, including rigorous interdisciplinary training and translational research initiatives as well as renowned clinical programs.
A national advocate for organ donation, Dr. Mentzer is an accomplished heart transplant surgeon. He has been a reviewer for a wide array of peer-reviewed basic science and clinical journals and has served on numerous study sections and special emphasis panels for the National Institutes of Health. His research has been continuously funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH for 21 years. Dr. Mentzer's honors include the Bigger Lehman Award of the Virginia Surgical Society and the John Horsley Memorial Prize for Surgical Research, and he currently serves as president of the prestigious Halstead Society.
He is married to Monika Mentzer. Robert and Monika have two adult sons, Markus and Stefan, and recently became proud grandparents of their first grandson, Ethan James.