Trustee
Rebecca Cooke retired from Wayne State University where she most recently served as interim vice president for finance and business operations and chief financial officer, and treasurer, pro tempore. In this role, which she has held from January 1, 2020 to October 1, 2021, Rebecca led the university’s offices of Finance, Budget, Treasury, Risk Management; Business Services, Planning Assessment and Innovation; Human Resources; and Facilities Planning and Management.
Prior to assuming her new role, Rebecca served Wayne State as associate vice president for finance and administration for Health Affairs and the School of Medicine’s vice dean for finance and administration. She has thirty years of experience as an executive in academic medical centers with expertise in higher education administration, research administration, physician practice management and hospital clinical program management.
Prior to arriving at Wayne State in 2017, Rebecca served as vice dean for administration and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine where she was the senior administrative leader and was responsible for the school’s overall operational and financial management. She served in a similar role at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois from 2007 to 2011 and she was the administrator of the department of Medicine at the Feinberg School from 1999 to 2007. As administrator, Rebecca was responsible for the administration and financial management of the department’s clinical practice, hospital activities, research grants and educational programs.
Rebecca also worked in the Dean’s office at Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Medical College where she was the Director of Administrative Affairs for the newly formed faculty practice plan and she spent six years in departmental administration at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she worked in Cardiology, Oncology, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, and Endocrinology.
In addition to her career in higher education administration, Rebecca has trained and served as an Executive Coach and has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles, including serving as:
Rebecca received an MBA in Health Care Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and has a BS in Business Administration from Towson State University.
