Allan Tunkel will succeed Phillip Gruppuso as associate dean for medical education at the Alpert Medical School, according to a statement released Monday by Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences.
The associate dean will report to Wing until the search for a new dean of medicine and biological sciences is completed, Wing wrote. He will be responsible for all undergraduate medical programs at the Med School.
Wing announced in November that he will step down from his post June 30.
Tunkel, who will assume his new role July 15, currently serves as chair of medicine at Monmouth Medical Center in New Jersey and professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Wing wrote.
During his time at Drexel, Tunkel also served as the senior associate dean for academic campuses, which involved coordinating 25 clinical academic campuses, as well as associate dean of admission, Wing wrote.
As the new associate dean at Brown, Tunkel will need to do “the best possible job educating the next generation of doctors at Brown,” said Provost Mark Schlissel P’15, adding that the role requires “very hands-on leadership” and a strong focus on education.
Tunkel brings “fresh expertise” to the position, Schlissel said. Tunkel was selected because of his strong “background in medical education, administration and clinical expertise,” Wing wrote.
“He has a wealth of medical education experience that goes from teaching of individual students to important administrative positions,” Gruppuso wrote in an email to The Herald. “I look forward to working with him myself,” he added.
Gruppuso will step down June 30, he wrote.
“Tunkel has really big shoes to fill,” Schlissel said, adding that Gruppuso has done a “really spectacular job.”
Gruppuso will continue to teach at the Med School and will be available to guide Tunkel through the transition process, Gruppuso wrote. “We have an outstanding group of very knowledgeable educators in the Med School. They will be a huge help to Dr. Tunkel as he assumes responsibility,” he added.
Upon assuming his role, Tunkel will first be tasked with gaining an understanding of Brown and the Med School, Schlissel said — the “nuts and bolts” of his job “will really be up to the new dean to define” after Wing’s successor is named.
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