AAMC Announces 2021-2022 Board of Directors, Changes to Board Structure

The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) has announced its new board of directors, which reflects recently approved changes to create a broader and more flexible board structure. The new board's term begins Nov. 10, 2021, and will end at the conclusion of Learn Serve Lead: The AAMC Annual Meeting in November 2022.

Following a recent meeting of the AAMC Assembly - the voting body of the AAMC's member medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies - changes were made to the size and composition of the Board, notably increasing in size from 17 to 19 voting members. Within the 19-member Board, there are now nine at-large seats (increased from seven). Two of the at-large seats are designated for public members (increased from one seat), with at least one public member being a community member or patient. One of the at-large seats also is designated for an individual who at the time of election is within 10 years of their first faculty appointment. The required number of deans on the board was reduced from five to four.

In addition to the nine at-large members, the AAMC Board of Directors includes the chair, chair-elect, immediate past chair, the AAMC president and CEO, and the chairs and chairs-elect from the association's three member councils: Council of Deans, Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, and Council of Faculty and Academic Societies.

"One change that the Assembly approved for which I'm especially appreciative is the decision to increase the number of the Board's public members from one to two, with at least one public member being a community member or patient. This follows the AAMC's recent expansion of our mission in our new strategic planto include community collaboration alongside the traditional tripartite missions of medical education, clinical care, and research," said David J. Skorton, MD, AAMC president and CEO. "The addition of a community member or patient to our Board is one way we are acting on our goal to listen to and learn from the patients, families, and communities we serve."

The Assembly approved other changes to the AAMC bylaws in addition to the Board structure, including two notable changes that allow for more fully engaging student voices: increasing the number of Organization of Student Representatives non-voting participants, and more broadly defining who may participate in AAMC affinity groups to reduce potential or perceived barriers to learner engagement.

About the 2021-2022 Board

Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, president of The University of Texas (UT) at Tyler, has been elected as the new chair of the AAMC Board of Directors. He succeeds J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who becomes immediate past chair. LouAnn Woodward, MD, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the school of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), has been named chair-elect and will succeed Calhoun next year

Calhoun became president of the UT Health Science Center at Tyler in November 2002, which recently consolidated with the academic campus, The University of Texas at Tyler, under his leadership. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Directors for UT Health East Texas. Prior to being named chair-elect of the AAMC Board of Directors, Calhoun served as chair of the AAMC Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems. A native of Chicago, he earned a medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as well as a fellowship in clinical nephrology, hypertension, and metabolism at the University of Chicago.

Woodward assumed her current dual role as vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the school of medicine at UMMCin 2015. In 2013, she was appointed as a member of the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, the accrediting body for all medical schools in the United States and Canada, which is co-sponsored by the AAMC and the American Medical Association. She became chair of the committee in July 2017. A native of Mississippi's Carroll County, Woodward graduated from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, and completed medical school and a residency in emergency medicine at UMMC. She later joined the faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine, where she currently holds the rank of tenured professor.

The members of the 2021-2022 AAMC Board of Directors are:

Chair:
Kirk A. Calhoun, MD
The University of Texas at Tyler

Chair-elect:
LouAnn Woodward, MD
University of Mississippi Medical Center

Immediate Past Chair:
J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania

President and CEO:
David J. Skorton, MD
AAMC

Nita Ahuja, MD, MBA
Yale University

Peter F. Buckley, MD
Virginia Commonwealth University

Catherine L. Coe, MD
University of North Carolina

Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA
University of Miami

Julie A. Freischlag, MD
Wake Forest Baptist Health

Martha E. Gaines, JD, LLM
University of Wisconsin

Aviad Haramati, PhD
Georgetown University

Brittany N. Hasty, MD, MHPE
Loyola University Medical Center

Jennifer Hayashi
Tulane University

Danny Jacobs, MD, MPH
Oregon Health & Science University

Cara V. James, PhD
Grantmakers In Health

Lee D. Jones, MD
Georgetown University

Joan Y. Reede, MD, MS, MPH, MBA
Harvard University

Michael Waldrum, MD, MSc, MBA
Vidant Health

Kate Walsh, MPH
Boston Medical Center