John Crissman has been named interim dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine effective today, announced WSU President Irvin D. Reid. In his role as dean, Dr. Crissman becomes senior vice president of The Detroit Medical Center (DMC), announced President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur Porter.

Dr. Crissman, a pathologist who has served as associate dean of research and graduate programs, succeeds Dr. Robert Sokol, who resigned after 10 years in the deanship. Dr. Crissman also has served as chairman of the department of pathology since 1990. Sokol will continue to advise on medical school matters during a transitional period and take a one-year administrative leave from Wayne State.

Dr. Crissman has been with the University since 1981 when he came to the School of Medicine as a professor of pathology. He later served as vice chairman of the department of pathology at Henry Ford Hospitals in 1987. He returned to WSU and concurrently assumed the leadership of all clinical and anatomic laboratories within The Detroit Medical Center (DMC) institutions as specialist-in-chief of pathology, and professor and chair of pathology at the School of Medicine.

An undergraduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Crissman received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University. His major research focus has been the study of cancer and the spread of malignant tumors. Prior to joining WSU, Dr. Crissman was a U.S. Air Force captain and also directed surgical pathology at the University of Cincinnati.