175th Anniversary Discourse and Celebration of NYAM Fellows & Members

Join us for a special 175th Anniversary Discourse and Celebration of NYAM Fellows & Members! As we acknowledge this important milestone anniversary and NYAM’s unprecedented achievements and contributions to public health, we welcome another trailblazer in public health, Dean Michelle A. Williams, SM, ScD, Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as discourse speaker on this auspicious occasion.

175th Anniversary Discourse: “The health equity crisis: Challenges and solutions”
Dean Williams will explore innovative cross-sector coalitions of public, private and academic partners demonstrating innovative approaches to tackling disparities, especially those exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean Williams will offer a clear-eyed look at the crisis in health equity and propose new ways to think about solutions, through the lens of the ongoing pandemic.

Returning to an in-person celebration for the first time since 2019, we will proudly induct our newest Fellows and Members, laud our 30-year Fellows, and also recognize the Fellows we have lost this year. A reception follows the formal program.

Discourse Speaker

Michelle A. Williams, SM ’88, ScD ’91, is Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, a joint faculty appointment at the Harvard Chan School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. Dean Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her scientific work places special emphasis in the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. Dean Williams has published more than 500 scientific articles and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. In 2020, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and recognized by PR Week as one of the top 50 health influencers of the year. The Dean has an undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University, a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.

Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP, is the 17th president of the Brooklyn-based SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, where he also holds tenured professorships in internal medicine, health policy, and management. Dr. Riley joined the NYAM Board of Trustees in 2017 and was elected Chair in October 2020. Prior to joining SUNY Downstate in 2017, Dr. Riley served as clinical professor of medicine and adjunct professor of Health Policy & Management at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Before that, Dr. Riley served from 2007-2013 with distinction as the 10th president and chief executive officer and professor of medicine at the historic Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. An academic, primary care general internist, Dr. Riley has more than 25 years of progressively senior executive level management, policy, and leadership experiences in academic medicine, patient care, research administration, academic health center administration, healthcare management, health policy, biotechnology, the corporate sector, government service, advocacy, and organized medicine.