Darrell G. Kirch ( ) is an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who is president and CEO

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the

Association of American Medical Colleges The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and scientific societies, while providing serv ...

(AAMC). He trained as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

and

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

, before going on to hold senior administrative positions at several medical colleges.

Education and early career

He studied medicine at

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university in Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. History University of Colorado System Anschutz Medical Campus The University ...

, graduating with a BA and then with an MD in 1977. He completed a residency in psychiatry in 1982.

Leadership roles

He worked at the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

, becoming the acting scientific director in 1993. In 1994 he became Dean of the School of Medicine at the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

(MCG). In 2000, Kirch he took up the positions of Dean of the Penn State College of Medicine and CEO of

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (MSHMC) is a 628-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, servicing the Central Pennsylvania area. MSHMC is the region's only university-le ...

. He joined the AAMC's Executive Council in 2001, then in July 2006, he took up the position of president and CEO. He is a keynote speaker at multiple conferences and meetings including SUO/AADO/OPDO Combined Meeting 2018 and Association of Academic Psychiatry Annual Meeting 2018. On July 15, 2019, he stepped down from his position at the AAMC. David J. Skorton, the former Secretary of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, succeeds him in the leadership role.

Personal life

He is married to Deborah and they have two daughters.

Awards and honours

He was awarded the Outstanding Service Medal of the United States Public Health Service. He received the

's "Silver and Gold" award in 2002. He was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in 2013.

References

External links

biography
at AAMC {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirch, Darrell G. Living people United States Department of Health and Human Services officials University of Colorado School of Medicine alumni Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Pennsylvania State University faculty American neuroscientists American psychiatrists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Members of the National Academy of Medicine