Dr. Thomas Wakefield (2025)
Dr. Thomas Wakefield was appointed a National Trustee in 2023. He is member of the Academic and Student
Affairs Committee, Finance and Audit Committee and Trusteeship and Governance Committee.
Dr. Wakefield is Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan. He was the Head of Vascular Surgery at the University of Michigan for 16 years and was Director of the Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan for eight years.
He attended The University of Toledo as an undergraduate student, where both he and Mrs. Wakefield participated in the Honors program. Dr. Wakefield obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1975 and went on to attend the Medical College of Ohio. He graduated with his medical degree in 1978. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 1984 and completed a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan in 1986. He had an active clinical practice in all aspects of vascular surgery, focusing on venous disorders until his retirement in 2023.
Dr. Wakefield previously served as the President of the American Venous Forum, Michigan Vascular Society, and the Frederick A Coller Surgical Society. He held two professorships, the S. Martin Lindenauer Collegiate Professorship in Vascular Surgery (2002-2012, and the Stanley Professorship in Vascular Surgery (2012-2023). He has received numerous awards including multiple Conrad Jobst Awards for Research in Vascular Surgery, American Heart Association Coeur D’ OR Award for Excellence, International Union of Phlebology Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research in Phlebology, Founders Award from the American Venous Forum, American Heart Association Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) Special Recognition Award in Thrombosis, and the University of Michigan Vascular Surgery Excellence in Education. He has also been recognized by the University of Toledo James K. Larson Award for Outstanding Career Achievement, The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award, and The University of Toledo Blue T and Gold T Awards. He has authored more than 320 peer-reviewed papers, more than 150 book chapters on vascular surgery, vascular medicine, thrombosis, and venous disorders, and has delivered in excess of 500 regional, national, and international scientific presentations.
Mrs. Mary Wakefield graduated from the University of Toledo in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to work as a physical therapist at the University of Michigan. The Wakefield’s have two sons. Andrew, a graduate of Albion College and the University of Michigan Law School, is a priest ordained for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. He currently serves as Pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. Victor, a Princeton graduate with a Ed.D. from Johns Hopkins, is currently a Senior Vice President for Teach for America. Victor’s wife Rachel holds a MSPH from Johns Hopkins and works as a Health Educator. They live in Maryland and have a son, Ezra John, and a daughter, Nora Dennie.
Tom and Mary Wakefield are vigorous supporters of the Rockets, and reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.