The executive dean of Kansas University’s School of Medicine has been named dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Deborah Powell, a pathologist who has been at KU since 1997, will become the first female dean of the Minnesota medical school and one of only nine female deans among the 125 U.S. medical schools. She also would be the first dean in nearly 90 years to come to the position from outside the university, according to a statement from the University of Minnesota.

The university’s regents are expected to vote on the appointment next week. Powell would begin her duties there in October.

She said she enjoyed her five years as dean at KU and wished her colleagues well.

“The opportunity to cap my career at Minnesota is very attractive to me, both personally and professionally,” she said. “I believe I have a great deal to offer in this new position, and I will enjoy being closer to my family.”

Powell’s oldest son will begin a residency in neurology this fall at Minnesota.

Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor of the Med Center, said Powell provided an “era of stability in leadership that has strengthened the overall effectiveness of the school.” She bolstered KU’s primary care physician education program and supported a 50 percent increase in funded research, Hagen said.

He said the school would move quickly to name a successor.

Powell was one of five finalists for the Minnesota position. She is expected to replace Alfred Michael, who announced in September he would step down in June. He was dean since 1996.

Frank Cerra, senior vice president for health sciences at the University of Minnesota, said Powell would be taking the helm of a school poised for greatness.

“Dr. Powell has the experience, vision, leadership and maturity of judgment critical for this medical school to reach its next level,” he said.

Powell, who also is vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the Med Center and a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, came to KU in 1997 after 20 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. She was the first female executive dean in school history.