Former Surgery Chair Named Interim Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs

Lazar Greenfield

Lazar J. Greenfield, M.D., professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School, has been appointed by U-M President

Mary Sue Coleman to serve as the University’s interim executive vice president for medical affairs following Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., who stepped down from the post at the conclusion of his five-year term on July 31. Greenfield will serve until a new permanent executive vice president takes office.

Greenfield has been a member of the U-M faculty since 1987, when he became chair of the Department of Surgery, a position he held until earlier this year. A leading vascular and thoracic surgeon, he is the author of 128 book chapters, more than 360 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, and two major textbooks of surgery. Greenfield is renowned for his development of an intracaval filter device, which bears his name, used to prevent pulmonary embolism. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, has served on 15 scientific editorial boards, and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.