2006 Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
Association of American Medical Colleges
The Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical
Education was established by the AAMC in 1958 to recognize extraordinary
individual contributions to medical schools and to the medical education
community as a whole.
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"The physician professional is defined
not only by what he or she must know, but most importantly
by a profound sense of what the physician must be."
- Dr. Jordan Cohen
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For 12 years, he was the voice of academic medicine, as well as
its conscience. In leading one of the nation's premier medical associations
into the 21st century, he ensured it not only kept pace with change,
but stayed well ahead of the proverbial curve. And it is his legacy
that during one of health care's most dynamic eras he literally
transformed that organization--the Association of American Medical
Colleges (AAMC)--into one of the nation's leading advocacy organizations.
His name is Jordan J. Cohen.
Today, Dr. Cohen is president emeritus of the AAMC, and chair of
the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Additionally, he serves on the board
of directors of several organizations, including: the Foundation
for Biomedical Research; the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation; the Morehouse
School of Medicine; National Medical Fellowships, Inc.; and the
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
During his 12-year tenure at the AAMC, Dr. Cohen spoke extensively
on the critical issues facing academic medicine, including the need
to promote greater racial and ethnic diversity in medicine, uphold
professional and scientific values, and transform the nation's health
care system. In the words of Deborah Powell, M.D., dean of the University
of Minnesota Medical School, Dr. Cohen combined "a strong and
sustained commitment to medical education and academic medicine
with an unequaled ability to articulate his beliefs with passion
and persuasion."
Not only did Dr. Cohen give voice to these issues, he ensured the
AAMC had the necessary tools to amplify that voice. In addition
to strengthening the association's communications functions, he
substantially reinforced its advocacy capabilities. His efforts
were so successful that, at a time of shrinking government support,
he helped sustain federal funding for biomedical research and helped
preserve the safety net afforded by America's teaching hospitals.
Under Dr. Cohen's leadership, new initiatives such as the Medical
School Objectives Project were started and an entire new center
for workforce studies was created. Strategic partnerships were formed
with other key health groups and numerous task forces on issues
such as conflicts of interest were convened.
Prior to taking the AAMC's helm in 1994, Dr. Cohen was dean and
professor of medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine
and president of the medical staff at University Hospital. Before
joining Stony Brook, he was professor and associate chairman of
medicine at the University of Chicago-Pritzker School of Medicine,
and physician-in-chief and chairman of the department of medicine
at the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center.
In addition to his presidency of the AAMC, Dr. Cohen has served
in numerous other national leadership positions. He is a former
president of the Association of Program Directors of Internal Medicine
and of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education,
and a former chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine. A
member of the American College of Physicians since 1978, Dr. Cohen
served as vice chair of its board of regents and chair of its Education
Policy Committee, and was awarded a mastership from the college
in 1993. A year later, he was named a member of the National Academy
of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Cohen earned his B.A. from Yale University and his M.D. from
Harvard Medical School, and holds honorary degrees from 10 universities
and medical schools. He completed postdoctoral training in internal
medicine on the Harvard service at the Boston City Hospital and
a fellowship in nephrology at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
The author of more than 100 articles and publications, he is former
editor of Kidney International's Nephrology Forum.
Nominate a deserving individual for the Abraham
Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education,
and view a list of previous award recipients.
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