American Board Directors
Chair
Dr. Rebecca L. Johnson is the Chair of the American Board of Directors. She served on the American Board of Directors from 2009-2018, was a member of the Executive Committee from 2014-2017, and currently serves on the Advancing Practice Task Force. She has served on ABMS’ Database and Information Technology Advisory Committee (DITAC), Committee on Certification (COCERT), MOC Part III Task Force, International Engagement Planning Committee, Improvement in Medical Practice Task Force, and the Task Force for Focused Expertise/Added Proficiency. She also chaired the Organizational Standards Task Force. Dr. Johnson was the Chief Executive Officer for the American Board of Pathology (ABPath) for nine years and prior to that was a Trustee for 11 years, serving as its President in 2009.
Dr. Johnson served as Chair of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Residency Program Director at Berkshire Health Systems, MA from 1992-2012. She served on the American Council of Graduate Medical Education Pathology Review Committee for six years, including two years as its Chair, and is currently an ex-officio member of the committee. Dr. Johnson is an active member of many medical and pathology organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Society for Clinical Pathology, College of American Pathologists, United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, and the Association of Pathology Chairs/Pathology Residence Program Directors. Dr. Johnson has received numerous awards including the College of American Pathologists’ Distinguished Service Award, President’s Honors, Outstanding Communicator Award, and Certificate of Meritorious Achievement. She also received the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Service Award, the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s Award for Distinguished Service to Pathology and its Mastership designation, and the Association of Pathology Chairs’ Distinguished Teaching Award in Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Johnson received her medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and was named its 2010 “Alumna of the Year.” She completed residency training at Hartford Hospital, CT and hematology fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health. She is certified by the ABPath in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Hematology, and Immunopathology and is participating in the ABPath Continuing Certification program.
J. Brantley Thrasher, MD, FACS
Chair-Elect
Dr. J. Brantley Thrasher is the William L. Valk Distinguished Professor and former chair of the Department of Urology and the Co-Director of Operative Services at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. A native of South Carolina, he completed his Medical Degree at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina, an internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., and his urology residency at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. He subsequently completed a urologic oncology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. He served for three years as Program Director for the Urology Residency Program at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, and after completing his military obligation, he was appointed as Chair in 1998. He is a Past-President of the American Urological Association (AUA), Past-President of the Society of Urology Chairpersons and Program Directors, Past-President of the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO), and a previous member of the Residency Review Committee for Urology. He has served as the Vice-President of the American Board of Urology and as the President of the South Central Section of the AUA. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Urology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons, and a member of the Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the AUA in 2015, for 15 years of service to academic and organized urology and was also awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the SUO, in 2017. He stepped down as Chair of the Department of Urology in June 2016, to assume the Presidency of the American Urological Association. In addition to giving over 400 presentations at local, national, and international meetings, he has written over 200 manuscripts, book chapters, and monographs in the field of urology. He currently serves as Coordinating Editor for Practical Reviews in Urology, an Associate Editor for the book, “The 5-Minute Urology Consult;” and as an Editorial Consultant for Urology Times.
Susan M. Ramin, MD
Secretary-Treasurer
Dr. Ramin is the Associate Executive Director of Maintenance of Certification for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG). She has also served as an ABOG board examiner, member, and Director of the ABOG Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division and was a member of the ABOG Board of Directors. Currently, she is the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Board of Directors and a member of the ABMS Executive Committee, Ethics and Professionalism Committee, and the Committee on Continuing Certification. She previously served as Chair of the ABMS Standards Task Force for Continuing Certification Standards and the Committee on Continuing Certification. As a member of the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School Dr. Ramin was the Director of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship program from 1996–1998. She became a member of the faculty at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1998 as the Director of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division and fellowship program. Dr. Ramin was later appointed the Berel Held, MD Professor and, in 2006, was named the Emma Sue Hightower Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. Dr. Ramin later joined the Baylor College of Medicine as tenured Professor, Vice Chair of Global Women’s Health, and Director of the Global Women’s Health Fellowship Program. She also served as Vice Chair of Education and held the Henry and Emma Meyer Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Ramin earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Maternal–Fetal Medicine fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. She is certified by ABOG.
Immediate Past Chair
Larry A. Green, MD
Dr. Larry Green is the Immediate Past Chair of the ABMS Board of Directors. He has served on the ABMS Board of Directors since 2010. He is Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) and was a member of the Board of Directors of the ABFM Foundation.
Dr. Green is the Distinguished Professor and Epperson Zorn Chair for Innovation In Family Medicine and Primary Care at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He has been involved in academic medicine for more than 40 years, having joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1977. During that time, he has served in various roles, including practicing physician, Residency Program Director, Developer of Practice-Based Research Networks, and Department Chair.
In 1999, Dr. Green was the founding director of the Robert Graham Center, a Washington, DC-based research policy center sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians. He served on the Steering Committee of the Future of Family Medicine Project that propelled the patient-centered medical home forward. Dr. Green directed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Prescription for Health program focused on incorporating health behavior change in redesigned primary care practices. Dr. Green is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He received the Curtis Hames Research Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the Maurice Wood Award for Lifetime Contribution to Primary Care Research from the North American Primary Care Research Group. Dr. Green received his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX and completed his family medicine residency at Highland Hospital and the University of Rochester in New York. He served in the National Health Service Corps in Arkansas. Dr. Green is certified by the ABFM in Family Medicine and is participating in the ABFM Continuing Certification program.
Richard E. Hawkins, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Hawkins is responsible for creating, planning, and implementing the strategic direction of ABMS. The leading not-for-profit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States, ABMS establishes the standards that its 24 Member Boards use to develop and implement educational and professional evaluation, assessment, and certification of physician specialists. Dr. Hawkins has more than 30 years of professional experience ranging from his service in the United States Navy as an officer in the Medical Corps to leadership positions at national medical professional associations. Prior to joining ABMS in 2018, he served for five years as the Vice President for Medical Education Outcomes at the American Medical Association (AMA). There, Dr. Hawkins provided leadership for the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, a $13.5 million grant program supporting 32 medical schools that are transforming their educational programs to better prepare their students to succeed in the nation’s evolving health care systems. He also provided senior staff leadership to the AMA’s Council on Medical Education and Academic Physician Section. Previously, Dr. Hawkins was the Senior Vice President for Professional and Scientific Affairs at ABMS. In this role, he led educational, assessment, and international initiatives. Prior to that, Dr. Hawkins was the Deputy Vice President and then Vice President for Assessment Programs at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). There, he helped implement the Clinical Skills Examination of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, develop its assessment of professional behaviors program, and enhance the post-licensure assessment system for NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Prior to joining NBME, Dr. Hawkins was Assistant Dean and Director of the Simulation Center at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Additionally, he served in various academic appointments in the Naval Medical Corps, receiving numerous commendations for his service. A well-respected leader in the fields of physician assessment and education, Dr. Hawkins has more than 20 years of experience working on various initiatives to evaluate and improve physician performance, and is co-editor of a textbook on the assessment of clinical competence. He has given more than 80 presentations; conducted 30-plus courses and workshops; and published more than 70 articles, books, and book chapters. Dr. Hawkins is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is participating in Maintenance of Certification.
American Board of Medical and Health Board Members
Dr. Mostafa M, kandil general secretary
Michael Barone, MD, MPH
George B. Bartley, MD
Miriam G. Blitzer, PhD, FACMG
Beth A. Bortz, MPP – ABMS Public Member
Keith E. Brandt, MD
Sheila Bush – ABMS Public Member
Jo Buyske, MD
Kirk Frey, MD, PhD
Robert R. Gaiser, MD, MSEd
David B. Joseph, MD, FACS, FAPP
John L. Kendall, MD, FACEP
Carolyn L. Kinney, MD
Jeffrey M. Lyness, MD
David F. Martin, MD
Walter H. Merrill, MD
Michael R. Nelson, MD, PhD
Mary (Mimi) S. Newell, MD, FACR, FSBI
Warren P. Newton, MD, MPH
Wendy K. Nickel, MPH – ABMS Public Member
Brian Nussenbaum, MD, MHCM
Christopher J. Ondrula, JD
Donald J. Palmisano Jr., JD, CAE — ABMS Public Member
Carl W. Patten Jr., JD, MPH – ABMS Public Member
Gary W. Procop, MD, MS
Thomas E. Read, MD
Randall K. Roenigk, MD
Tara Bristol Rouse, MA, CPHQ, BCPA — ABMS Public Member
John A. Wilson, MD, FAANS, FACS
Amy E. Young, MD
Dr. Mariam a,Ibrahim jordan ,office medical and health
Dr.aseel kewan jordan ,office
Dr. Dema aziz Syria head office
Mr. Ghada anani Lebanon head office
Dr. Ramdani soumia Algeria head office
Mr. Intzah darweesh Palestine agent