Dr. Thomas Brown was named executive director of the Swedish Cancer Institute, Seattle, taking a position that has been open since Dr. Albert Einstein Jr., retired about a year and a half ago.

Brown, 57, previously was COO and a professor of medicine at the University of (Tucson) Arizona Cancer Center, according to a news release.

The institute is affiliated with the not-for-profit Swedish Medical Center, which in turn is affiliated with Providence Health & Services, Renton, Wash.