After months of searching, TCU and the University of North Texas Science Center have decided who will lead their new medical school.

Dr. Stuart Flynn, dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, has been selected as the founding dean of the M.D. school. Flynn, who held an open forum at TCU on Jan. 12, was the founding dean of a medical school in Arizona that also started out as a partnership between two universities, according to a joint press release from TCU and UNTHSC.

Flynn got his medical and residency training from the University of Michigan and completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford University. He was also a professor of pathology and surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine.

When he spoke on campus in January, Flynn said one of his goals as dean would be to implement more competency-driven courses. He said he would want to create a program in which students could work closely with patients.

TCU and UNTHSC announced the partnership for the medical school last July. The two universities plan to begin accepting applications for the medical school in 2017.