Ralph Snyderman, MD, President/CEO of Duke University Health System, Chancellor for Health Affairs, and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, has been named Chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Dr Snyderman had served as an Executive Committee Member of the AAMC Council of Deans for 2 years.
He graduated with his MD degree, magna cum laude, from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in 1965. He completed his internship and residency at Duke University Hospital from 1965 to 1967. From 1967 to 1972, he served, respectively, as surgeon, Senior Staff Fellow, and Senior Investigator in the Immunology Section of the Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr Snyderman joined Duke University Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Immunology in 1972. In that year, he was also named a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital. Later, he was to serve as Chief of the Division of Rheumatic and Genetic Diseases and Director of the Laboratory of Immune Effector Function at the medical center, as well as maintaining a faculty position at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was appointed Frederic M. Hanes Professor of Medicine in 1984.
From 1987 to 1989, Dr Snyderman ventured into private industry, holding the positions of Vice President and Senior Vice President, respectively, at Genetech, Inc, South San Francisco, Calif, while maintaining adjunct professor status at Duke and the University of California, San Francisco. In 1989, he returned to Duke full time as Dean of the School of Medicine, in which office he served until 1998.
The recipient of many honors, Dr Snyderman's awards include the following: the CIBA GEIGY Award (1992) for his lifetime achievement in the area of inflammation research, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arthritis Foundation (1997), and the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award and an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree, both from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York.
Theresa Bischoff, President of New York University (NYU) Hospitals Center and Acting Chief Operating Officer of Mount Sinai NYU Health, was named Chair-Elect of AAMC. She will succeed Dr Snyderman as Chair in 2002.
Ms Bischoff previously served as Chair of the AAMC's Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, in which role she was instrumental in guiding initiatives on public policy in health care, including Medicare and Medicaid issues and the improvement of medical student education and training.
She is Chair of the Board of Governors Executive Committee of Greater New York Hospital Association, Trustee of the Healthcare Association of New York State, and Chair of the Board of the Combined Coordinating Council, a malpractice insurance consortium. Before assuming her role at NYU, Bischoff was Deputy Provost and Executive Vice President of NYU Medical Center. A Certified Public Accountant, she has a master's degree in Business Administration from Stern School of Business at NYU.