Wael Sakr, M.D., chair of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology, has been named the school’s new executive vice dean.

Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and Vice President of Health Affairs, announced the appointment Feb. 24.

Dr. Sakr will continue to chair the Department of Pathology.

As executive vice dean, he will oversee the Office of Medical Education, led by Vice Dean of Medical Education Robert Folberg, M.D. Dr. Sakr also will lead the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which is under the leadership of Vice Dean Donovan Roy, Ed.D.; the recruitment and evaluation of department chair; the recruitment and evaluation of School of Medicine-based center directors; and the development and implementation of compensation models for basic science and clinical faculty.

Executive Vice Dean Sakr also will serve on the new Joint Operating Leadership Team comprised of Dean Schweitzer, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark Kornbluh, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Operations David Massaron, Vice Dean Folberg and Vice Dean for Finance Thane Peterson. The team will ensure funding for strategic priorities, particularly medical education.

The appointment was part of a series of administrative changes announced earlier this week.

“Many of these enhancements were enacted with valuable input from key faculty and from students,” Dean Schweitzer said. “The strength and talent that these changes bring take us to the next level of progression we’ve developed the last two years. We are now positioned to further secure our primary mission as a medical school and to ensure a favorable outcome during our 2023 Liaison Committee on Medical Education site visit.”

Dr. Sakr is a nationally recognized academic pathologist with a track record of independent and collaborative National Institutes of Health funding and with seminal contributions in the field of genitourinary neoplasia, prostate cancer in particular. He has also assumed leadership roles in professional and community-based organizations, including the National Arab American Medical Association and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.