March 28, 2012

Jordan J. Cohen, MD, president emeritus of the Association of American Medical Colleges, will deliver the keynote address during the commencement ceremony for Drexel University College of Medicine on Friday, May 18 at 9 a.m. at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall), 260 South Broad Street. He will receive an honorary doctorate from Drexel University.

Cohen is currently chairman of the board of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for Humanism in Medicine, and a professor of medicine and public health at George Washington University. As president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 1994-2006, Cohen expanded and modernized the association's services for medical students, applicants, residents, and constituents; strengthened the association's communications and advocacy efforts; and established many initiatives for improving medical education and clinical care.

Prior to his leadership of the AAMC, he served as dean of the medical school and professor of medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and president of the medical staff at University Hospital. Before that, Cohen was a professor and associate chairman of medicine at the University of Chicago-Pritzker School of Medicine, and physician-in-chief and chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center.

He currently serves on the boards of the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science & Community Development. He also chairs the VA's National Academic Affiliation Council and is co-chair of the Institute of Medicine's Global Forum on Innovations in Health Professional Education.