“I’m excited to be joining the University of South Alabama, a vibrant university with a significant impact on the health care of the people of the Gulf Coast region,” Franks said.

“Through USA’s College of Medicine, College of Allied Health Professions, College of Nursing, physician practice and hospitals, USA each day is making a difference and I’m eager to become a part of the successful programs in place there.”

The new position of vice president for health sciences at USA reflects a reporting structure typical to most academic institutions with medical and health care training programs.  Franks will report to the university president and serve as the chief executive officer of USA’s health sciences division, providing oversight and leadership for the colleges of Allied Health Professions, Medicine, and Nursing.  The deans from these colleges will report directly to Franks. This new reporting structure provides integrated management of USA’s health education programs and greater synergy among these closely related academic areas.

Franks will work closely with Stan Hammack, USA vice president for health systems, who oversees the clinical operations of USA’s health system, including its hospitals and physician practice.

Franks currently serves as vice president for health affairs and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at East Tennessee State University, where he is responsible for the colleges of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and public health/allied health.  He has also served as dean of medicine at East Tennessee State and at the University of Minnesota Duluth School of Medicine, as well as director of inpatient service in the department of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.

After undergraduate studies at Albion College, he earned his medical degree, with distinction, from the University of Michigan and completed and his internship at Virginia Mason Hospital. Franks completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Colorado. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry.

Franks currently serves as chair of the Liaison Committee of Medical Education and on the governing council of the American Medical Association.   He is a past member of the executive council of the Association of American Medical Colleges and of the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry of the Health and Resources and Services Administration.  He was appointed by the Governor of Tennessee to the State Health Planning and Advisory Board, where he served as chair.

He has authored and co-authored numerous articles in professional journals and has received numerous grants for his research. His major scientific interests are factors affecting the specialty choice and placement of medical students, and student and resident impairment.

Franks has received numerous awards, including the Caduceus Club Founder’s Award, given by medical students to the faculty member who contributes the most to their education, and the Physician Communicator Award by the Minnesota Medical Association.