Wayne State University has announced the appointment of Richard M. Gabrys, a veteran administrator and business professional, as interim dean of its School of Business Administration, effective Jan. 1, 2006. The appointment was announced by Nancy S. Barrett, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

A Bloomfield Hills resident, Gabrys retired from Deloitte & Touche last year following 42 years of service, most recently as vice chairman of the firm’s U.S. Global Strategic Client Group. He also has been active in the business and nonprofit community, having served as chairman of The Detroit Medical Center, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. He is on the Dana Corp. Board of Directors, where he chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. He also serves on the board of CMS Energy.

Gabrys earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from King’s College and is a graduate of executive programs at Stanford University and Northwestern University as well as the International Institute of Management Development in Switzerland. He succeeds Harvey Kahalas, who announced his resignation in November and will return to teaching in the school following a year’s sabbatical.

“We are pleased that Dick Gabrys has agreed to serve as interim dean in the WSU School of Business Administration while the university conducts a national search for a permanent dean,” Barrett said. “His wealth of experience as a practitioner and consultant in the accounting field and as a business executive, as well as his affiliations and contacts in the community, will be valuable assets to the school and to the university.”

As a vice chairman at Deloitte & Touche, Gabrys was global and U.S. leader of the firm’s manufacturing practice and its automotive practice. Prior to assuming responsibility for the firm’s Manufacturing Group, he served as operations leader for the Financial Institutions Industry Group and as U.S. representative on the Global Banking Committee. He serves on the Executive Committee for the Detroit Institute of Arts and on the boards of The Alliance for a Greater Safer Detroit, ArtServe Michigan, Ave Marie University and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.