The AAMC is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the association’s annual awards, which honor individuals and institutions making significant contributions to medical education, research, clinical care, and community engagement.
Please join us on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. ET as we honor the 2025 award recipients and their achievements.
Do you know someone who exemplifies the best of academic medicine? Nominations for the 2026 AAMC Awards are now open! Visit aamc.org/awards to learn more about the criteria and to submit a nomination.
Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd
2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
As associate vice provost for interprofessional and instructional innovation at the University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine (UMass Chan SOM) in Worcester, Massachusetts, Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd, has spent more than 20 years building an institutional structure that supports collaboration and the growth of interprofessional education. Dr. Fischer developed UMass Chan SOM’s first core curriculum, ensuring all students directly engage with critical topics, such as managing medical errors and end-of-life decision-making.
David Harris, PhD
2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Since joining the University of Central Florida College of Medicine (UCF College of Medicine) in 2011, David Harris, PhD, professor of medical education, has been a formative figure in the lives of more than 1,300 medical students. Serving as lead educator for cardiac and respiratory physiology, Dr. Harris has significantly enhanced students’ educational experiences and academic success by employing active learning strategies that foster engagement, critical thinking, and deep learning.
Sherine E. Salib, MD
2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Throughout her career, Sherine E. Salib, MD, professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School (Dell Med), has excelled in both the practice and instruction of medicine.
Lisa Willett, MD, MACM, FACP
2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
For 25 years, Lisa Willett, MD, MACM, FACP — an internist, professor, and executive vice chair of the department of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine (UAB Heersink SOM) — has made an indelible impact on medical students, residents, and faculty.
Mill Etienne, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAES
2025 Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award
Mill Etienne, MD, MPH, vice chancellor, associate dean for student affairs, and associate professor of neurology and medicine at New York Medical College (NYMC), has often reflected on how growing up in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, shaped his clinical and pedagogical approach.
Eva L. Feldman, MD, PhD
2025 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences
Thanks to the work of University of Michigan neurologist Eva L. Feldman, MD, PhD, clinicians now have a better understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of two complex disorders: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the neurologic complications of diabetes.
Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
2025 Award for Excellence in Medical Education and 2025 Special Recognition Award (bestowed posthumously)
Throughout her career, Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, was a tireless advocate for advancing excellence in medical education and for supporting learners throughout their education. From 1989, when she joined the faculty of medicine, until 2018 when she stepped down as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and dean of medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (Pritzker), Dr. Humphrey played a central role in transforming the clinical learning environment, including developing one of the nation’s first white coat ceremonies.
Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG
2025 Herbert W. Nickens Award
Throughout her long and distinguished career, Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, president and CEO of the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) has made an indelible impact, from pioneering research into women’s health, to expanding representation in healthcare and addressing healthcare disparities, to transformative leadership across multiple institutions.
Read more about Dr. Montgomery Rice
Leon McDougle, MD, MPH
2025 Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award
As the first African-American professor with tenure in The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine’s department of family and community medicine, Leon McDougle, MD, MPH, associate vice president of community health, mentoring, and engagement, has charted a trailblazing path. In his 20 years as director of OSU College of Medicine’s premedical program, Medical Careers Pathway Post Baccalaureate Program (MEDPATH), Dr. McDougle advised and mentored countless medical students and biomedical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
William Schaffner, MD
2025 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award
As one of the most widely recognized and respected experts on vaccination, infectious disease, and public health and safety, William Schaffner, MD, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), has long been a go-to expert for media outlets, public health institutions, and policymakers.
Keck School of Medicine of USC
2025 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Engagement
The Keck School of Medicine of USC (Keck School) has built a model of community engagement that integrates service, education, research, and policy, reaching far beyond campus walls to be of the community, not just in it. From the beginning of their training, Keck School students are immersed in work guided by community priorities.
Read more about Keck School of Medicine
Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP
2025 Special Recognition Award
After 17 years at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP, stepped down from his position as president and CEO on Jan. 1, 2025. Under his leadership, graduate medical education (GME) grew significantly: ACGME-accredited residencies rose from 3,633 programs in 2008 to 5,270 programs today.
Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD
2025 Special Recognition Award
From September 2015 through March 2025, Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD, led the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD; part of the National Institutes of Health) as its director. In this role, he leveraged his personal history and passion for public health to define a national agenda focused on minority health and health disparities and oversaw the institute’s $535 million budget in 2024.