Dean hired for Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

Today the WSU Board of Regents officially changed the name of the WSU College of Medical Sciences to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

It also announced the hiring of Dr. John Tomkowiak as the college’s inaugural dean.

Naming the college after our late President is a tribute to his leadership and tireless work in getting our university to where it is today. When the idea of establishing a WSU medical school was raised, there were a number of skeptics. President Floyd had a clear goal in mind and fought for what he believed was right for the entire state of Washington.

With the hiring of Dr. Tomkowiak, we can set our sights on officially applying for accreditation with the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) by the end of this calendar year. Tomkowiak will begin his role at WSU in early October.

Tomkowiak comes to us from the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University, where he serves as dean. He has experience with successful accreditation processes with the LCME, including one with Florida State University.

His experience with community-based, inter-professional medical education will be helpful as our medical education program will also be built on a community-based model. In addition, WSU Spokane’s health sciences programs have always used an inter-professional approach to education.

Tomkowiak earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and completed his M.D. and residency training at Southern Illinois University of Medicine. He also has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.