Brian J. Zink, M.D., appointed interim executive vice dean for academic affairs

Brian J. Zink, M.D., has been appointed interim executive vice dean for academic affairs (EVDAA) in the U-M Medical School, effective Sept. 8. His appointment, which also includes service as interim chief academic officer (CAO) for Michigan Medicine, was approved by the board of regents Thursday. 

Zink is a professor of emergency medicine, and since September 2019, he has served as senior associate dean for faculty and faculty development. He will continue in this role while working with senior leadership in administering the medical school’s academic mission, which includes oversight and guidance for medical and graduate students, and residents. He has extensive experience in mentoring, faculty and leadership development, education, medical humanities, history of emergency medicine and current policymaking in health care.

Zink joined the U-M faculty in 1992 as an assistant professor of emergency medicine and founding member of the Department of Emergency Medicine. From 1992-2006, he was a researcher in brain injury and alcohol effects in trauma, and from 2004-06 he served as associate dean for student programs. During his first stint at the U-M, he wrote the first comprehensive history of U.S. emergency medicine, “Anyone, Anything, Anytime.”

In 2006, he became the inaugural chair of emergency medicine at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and chief of emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital. He returned to the U-M in 2018 as a professor.