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Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award

Established in 2020 by the Sullivan Alliance and the Association of Academic Health Centers and named an AAMC presidential award by the AAMC Board of Directors in June 2022, the Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award is given to an individual who demonstrates, through their leadership, a commitment to diversifying the health care workforce. 

Dr. Sullivan served as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from 1989-1993 and was the founding dean of Morehouse School of Medicine. He also founded the Sullivan Alliance (now part of the AAMC), which aims to strengthen the capacity and quality of the United States’ health care workforce by increasing the numbers of ethnic and racial minorities in every area of health care and across all aspects of academic health centers.

The awardee receives the Sullivan Award medallion and a prize of $10,000. The awardee presents the Sullivan Lecture at Learn Serve Lead 2024: The AAMC Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. Nominations are due Jan. 26, 2024.

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Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award

Nominees should have demonstrated, through their leadership, a commitment to diversifying the health care workforce to reflect the patients and communities served. Nominees will be evaluated by the review committee on the following precise criteria:

  • The nominee has had significant impact in diversifying the health care workforce.
  • The nominee has evidenced how they value and engage with the populations served in clinical care, research, and education.
  • The nominee has made a significant impact in improving health literacy and health behavior within the population.
  • The nominee has made a demonstrable impact on inclusion and belonging of a diverse health care workforce.
  • The nominee demonstrates standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.

Nominees should demonstrate excellence in all criteria listed above.

The nominee must be an individual who has a faculty (including emeritus) appointment at a university affiliated with an AAMC-member academic health system, but rank is not a criterion for this award.

Anyone may submit a nomination. Nominations must be received by Jan. 26, 2024, via the electronic entry form. The field required for nomination can be previewed here.

The Sullivan Alliance Advisory Committee will serve as the review committee and select three finalists. Nominators of finalists will be notified by March 8, 2024, that they are invited to submit letters of support. Final-round letters of support must include:

  • One two-page letter of support of the finalist authored by an AAMC-member institution’s dean, CEO, or president on institutional letterhead.
  • Three additional two-page letters of support attesting to the nominee’s qualifications for the Sullivan Award.

Additional support materials must be submitted by April 5, 2024. There is no need to compile these letters before notification on March 8.

The winner of the award will be notified by July 12, 2024, and honored during the virtual AAMC Awards Recognition Event.

Please address all questions to:

Sandra Gordon
202-828-0472
sgordon@aamc.org

The Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award recognizes an individual who demonstrates, through their leadership, a commitment to diversifying the health care workforce.

Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, is the 2023 Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award recipient. Dr. Rogers, professor and chief of trauma and acute care surgery, and founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, established the first trauma center opera on on the South Side of Chicago and remains commited to ensuring the workforce reflects the community.