Tom Sollecito, associate dean for academic affairs at the Penn School of Dental Medicine, will act as dean of the school until current Dean Marjorie Jeffcoat recovers from an illness.
Jeffcoat is currently being treated in the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to a memorandum from President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels.
Jeffcoat was admitted to the emergency room last week and has temporarily relinquished her responsibilities as dean.
Jeffcoat is a past president of both the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association for Dental Research and former editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association. Additionally, she was on the dental faculty of several schools before coming to Penn in 2003.
Acting in her place, Sollecito is no stranger to the Penn Dental community as he joined the faculty in 1993. Previous positions that Sollecito has held include chief of Penn Dental Medicine's Oral Medicine Service, director of Penn Dental Medicine's Oral Medicine Clinic, and director of the Oral Medicine Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has also received the University's Lindback Award for Distinguished teaching.
In the memorandum, Gutmann and Daniels wished Jeffcoat a "swift recovery" and said that the they will keep the University community updated on her status.
Jeffcoat's husband requested that she have no visitors until her health has improved.
- Alissa Eisenberg
