American Board of Medical Specialties President to Deliver College of Medicine Commencement Address

Lois Margaret Nora, MD, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the American Board of Medical Specialties, will address the Drexel University College of Medicine class of 2017 during Commencement on May 19 at the Kimmel Center. In recognition of her commitment to the highest standards of patient-centered medical care, inclusivity and service, Nora will receive a degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the College of Medicine.

As president and CEO of the Chicago-based American Board of Medical Specialties, Nora supports the development and implementation of standards to certify physician specialists. Through these efforts, Nora helps ensure high-quality health care for patients, families and communities.

Prior to joining the American Board of Medical Specialties in 2012, Nora served as interim president and dean of The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pa., where she was credited with putting one of the nation’s newest medical schools on a sound footing. From 2002 to 2010, Nora served as president and dean of medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, becoming the first woman neurologist to head an American medical school. During Nora's tenure, the university added colleges of pharmacy and graduate studies, created a founding partnership with the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, Ohio, and was named one of Ohio’s best workplaces. Previously, Nora served as associate dean of academic affairs and administration and professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, and assistant dean and assistant professor of neurology at Rush Medical College in Chicago.

Nora’s academic leadership journey led her to Drexel’s Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program, where she graduated in 1997 from the highly competitive fellowship. She was a Group Ten fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program.  Today, she is a nationally recognized leader in physician workforce issues, as well as for research in gender equity, health professions education and academic medicine. Also trained as a lawyer, Nora's scholarly work focused on issues where law and medicine intersect in medical education.

Her national honors include the American Medical Women's Association President's Recognition Award and the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs Merrell Flair Award in Medical Education.

Nora received her medical degree from Rush Medical College, a law degree and certificate in clinical medical ethics from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics. She is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.