Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, AAMC chief public policy officer, formally presented Rep. Raul Ruiz, MD, (D-Calif.) with the 2025 ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education on Sept. 18, recognizing his leadership in academic medicine and work to advance the health of patients, families, and communities. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Ruiz has advocated for academic medicine priorities including expanding the physician workforce and improving access to high-quality health care for all Americans. He has also spoken on the importance of the Health Resources and Services Administration Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing workforce development programs and recently reintroduced a resolution that designates Oct. 1 as National Latino and Latina Physician Day (H.Res. 745), which supports the goals of increasing the number of Latino and Latina physicians in the United States and increasing diversity in the medical field. With an undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Ruiz also earned his Medical Degree from the university, as well as a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a Masters of Public Health from the School of Public Health, becoming the first Latino to earn three graduate degrees from Harvard University. Prior to his time in Congress, Ruiz also started a premedical mentorship program for young aspiring doctors in the Coachella Valley and served as a senior associate dean at the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine, an AAMC-member institution.
The award presentation was attended by several medical school deans who were in Washington, D.C. for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s (CHCI) and other AAMC 2025 ACE Award recipients will be honored at the upcoming AAMC joint reception celebrating the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 54th Annual Legislative Conference and the CHCI’s 48th Leadership Conference.