Jane Thomas, Ph.D., assistant dean for Student Affairs emerita for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, died Nov. 28. She was 81.
"Dr. Thomas was wholly devoted to the School of Medicine, its students and its alumni," Dean Jack D. Sobel, M.D., said. "Long after her retirement, she was a familiar face on our campus as she volunteered for numerous committees and organizations, including as a current member of the school's Board of Visitors. She will be greatly missed for her energetic passion for our school."
In addition to the Board of Visitors, Dr. Thomas was serving on the School of Medicine Admissions Committee and on the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center Board of Directors, where she chaired the Quality of Patient Care Committee.
She co-chaired the Wayne State University School of Medicine Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, formed by Dean Sobel to address the lack of diversity in the student body. Her services on the task force, he said, "were instrumental in quickly identifying and addressing the issues that contributed to that issue, and the steps we have taken to rectify the concern."
Dr. Thomas received her bachelor's degree from Rockford College and the University of Edinburgh. She earned her master's degree from the University of Michigan and her doctorate degree from Wayne State University. She was a Detroit Public Schools educator for a decade before joining Wayne State University as an academic advisor in 1968.
She joined the School of Medicine as a counselor in the Department of Student Affairs in 1974. She was appointed assistant dean for Student Affairs in 1992 and retired in 2003. She also held the positions of assistant dean for Special Projects and Liaison Committee on Medical Education coordinator, and was an adjunct professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences.
"Jane and I began working at the School of Medicine at the same time in 1974," recalled Beth Ann Brooks, M.D., professor emerita of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences. "Because she was a counselor in Student Affairs and I worked with medical students during their psychiatry clerkships, Jane and I often shared challenging students. She was an independent woman whom I admired greatly."
The pair, Dr. Brooks said, traveled together, and she became godmother to Dr. Thomas' only grandchild, Carsten Thomas Melbye, who lives in London.
"Not surprisingly, Jane rose in the ranks to become the assistant dean for Student Affairs, where she flourished professionally and was a staunch advocate for all students," Dr. Brooks added. "The world has lost an iconic woman who made a mark on the lives of countless students, colleagues, staff, friends, neighbors and her church community at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul."
Dr. Thomas was awarded the Association of American Medical Colleges' Group on Student Affairs Exemplary Service Award. She was the third person to receive the honor, which recognizes current or former GSA representatives who demonstrated exemplary service to the Group on Student Affairs. The Anti-Defamation League of Greater Detroit recognized Dr. Thomas with its 1997 Woman of Achievement Award for her commitment to the advancement of equal employment, integration and education. In 2002, she received the Wayne State University School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her many contributions to the school.
Her husband, Edward St. Clair Thomas, former president and chief executive officer of Detroit Receiving Hospital, died in 2015.
Funeral and service details have not yet been announced.