This story originally appeared on The Philadelphia Tribune.
A veteran health administrator, Dr. Said A. Ibrahim, was appointed as the first Black dean at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, after a rigorous search process.
His appointment, effective Dec. 1, was announced to the school community on Tuesday.
Currently, Ibrahim, 61, is senior vice president of Northwell Health’s Medical Service Line. He has also been chair of the Department of Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
Susan Aldridge, interim president of Thomas Jefferson University, described Ibrahim as an “inspirational and transformational leader” who will guide a “new generation of students and faculty” and the medical school into the future.
“Dr. Ibrahim is an extraordinary researcher, physician, scientist and educator,” Aldridge said. “Not only will he continue to be involved in health disparity research, but he will help us in bringing in additional faculty and students from diverse areas of the country and diverse backgrounds, so we are very excited to have his talent and leadership here.”
In an April article on Northwell Health’s website, Ibrahim said Northwell has a very diverse population and therefore has to have a diverse strategy that includes recruiting physicians, nurses and staff who reflect the communities it serves.
Asked about health equity in the article, Ibrahim said: “Delivering the best care to all of our community members regardless of their social station in life is the most important health care challenge of our time. I know this in part because health equity has been a focus of my research and scholarship, which has been continuously supported for over 25 years by the National Institutes of Health and other funders.”