Commencement Speaker
The Student Council and University of Michigan Medical School are delighted to announce that Michael M.E. Johns, M.D., an alumnus of our School, and a distinguished physician and leader in academic medicine, will speak to graduating students, their families and friends, and faculty and staff during the 2013 commencement ceremony at 3 p.m. May 17 in Hill Auditorium.
In his remarks, Dr. Johns will present insights from the front lines of change in health care: from the realignment of practice patterns and the resultant transformation in medical education, to the development of predictive and preventive health programs. He also will speak to graduates about the importance of learning as health care professionals and change agents — focusing not only on how to look, but how to see; not only how to listen, but how to hear, and, most importantly, moving from knowing to a deep understanding of the issues facing the medical profession.
A 1969 U-M Medical School graduate, Dr. Johns is professor of medicine and public health at Emory University, where he served as chancellor from 2007-12. His career at Emory began in 1996 when he was appointed executive vice president for health affairs, CEO of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center (HSC), and chairman of the board of Emory Healthcare. During his 11-year tenure, he transformed the HSC into one of the nation’s preeminent centers of education, research and patient care. He served from 1990-96 as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and vice president of the medical faculty.
In addition to leading complex administrative and academic organizations to new levels of excellence and service, Dr. Johns is widely renowned as a catalyst of new thinking in many areas of health policy and health professions education. He has been a contributor to many of the leading organizations and policy groups in health care, including the Institute of Medicine, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Commonwealth Fund Task Force on Academic Health Centers, the Association of Academic Health Centers, and many others. He frequently lectures, publishes, and works with state and federal policymakers on topics ranging from the future of health professions education to national health system reform. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1993 and has served on many IOM committees.
Dr. Johns earned his bachelor’s degree in 1964 from Wayne State University and his medical degree with distinction in 1969 from Michigan. He remained at the U-M for his internship and residency, and has gone on to become a renowned cancer surgeon of head and neck tumors who is internationally recognized for his clinical care and studies of treatment outcomes.
