ABMS Announces New Board of Directors, Members and Officers

On June 24, 2020

Larry A. Green, MD, to Chair ABMS Board

CHICAGO—June 24, 2020—The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the leading not-for-profit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States, is pleased to announce the election of Larry A. Green, MD, as the 38th Chair of its Board of Directors (BOD) at the ABMS BOD meeting held June 18. Dr. Green succeeds Barry S. Smith, MD, who served as ABMS BOD Chair from 2018-2020. Dr. Smith will now serve as Immediate Past Chair.

Dr. Green has served on the ABMS BOD since 2010. He is a member of the ABMS Executive Committee, Ethics and Professionalism Committee; Finance Committee; Governance Committee, and Vision Commission Task Forces Oversight Committee. He serves on the Stakeholder Council in an Ex Officio capacity and was the Inaugural Chair of the Audit Committee. Dr. Green is Past Chair of the American Board of Family Medicine’s (ABFM) BOD and has served on numerous ABMS and ABFM Committees. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor and Epperson Zorn Chair for Innovation in Family Medicine and Primary Care at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Green has been involved in academic medicine for more than 40 years, having joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1977.

“Larry Green has been a longtime, passionate advocate for board certification, ethics, and professionalism,” stated Richard E. Hawkins, MD, ABMS President and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to his leadership as ABMS moves forward with many innovative projects, including the continued work in implementing the recommendations shared by the Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission.”
Replacing Dr. Green as Chair-Elect is Michael L. Carius, MD, representing the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). Dr. Carius is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington and Emeritus Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk. He also is an emergency physician at Bridgeport Hospital and Milford Hospital, both in Connecticut. Dr. Carius has a long history with ABEM, including serving on its BOD from 2009-2018 and as its president from 2016-2017. Dr. Carius’ previous engagement with ABMS includes his service as a member of the ABMS BOD (2013-2018), Member At-Large of the Executive Committee, (2016-2017), and member of the ABMS Governance Committee (2012-2018).

Rebecca L. Johnson, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Board of Pathology (ABPath), will serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Dr. Johnson was previously Chairperson, Pathology & Clinical Laboratories at Berkshire Health Systems in Pittsfield, Mass. She was a Trustee of ABPath from 2002-2012. For ABMS, Dr. Johnson previously served on the Committee on Certification, Subcertification, Recertification, and Maintenance of Certification (COCERT) from 2005-2010, the Strategic Planning Committee from 2013-2015, the Executive Committee from 2014-2016, and chaired the Organizational Standards Task Force from 2016-2018. She currently serves on the ABMS Committee on Continuing Certification and Vision Commission Advancing Practice Task Force.

“ABMS relies on the expertise and dedication of volunteer leaders, such as Drs. Carius and Johnson, to help us serve the public and the medical profession,” Dr. Hawkins said. “The ABMS Boards Community is grateful for their work, guidance, and stewardship on behalf of the profession and the public.”

Newly elected ABMS Officers include:

  • Michael L. Carius, MD (Chair-Elect)—American Board of Emergency Medicine
  • Rebecca L. Johnson, MD (Secretary-Treasurer)—American Board of Pathology

Newly elected ABMS Board Members include:

  • Deborah Briceland-Betts, JD—Public Member
  • Carolyn L. Kinney, MD—American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
  • Katie O. Orrico, JD—Public Member
  • Michael R. Nelson, MD, PhD—American Board of Allergy and Immunology
  • Brent Wagner, MD—American Board of Radiology

Re-elected ABMS Board Members are as follows:

  • George B. Bartley, MD—American Board of Ophthalmology
  • Keith E. Brandt, MD—American Board of Plastic Surgery
  • Daniel J. Cole, MD—American Board of Anesthesiology
  • Thomas W. Hess, JD—Public Member
  • Walter H. Merrill, MD—American Board of Thoracic Surgery
  • Randall K. Roenigk, MD—American Board of Dermatology
  • George D. Wendel Jr., MD—American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Bruce G. Wolff, MD—American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery

The Public Member of the ABMS BOD elected to serve on the Executive Committee is:

  • Barbara Wachsman, MPH—Public Member

Board Members re-elected to serve on the Executive Committee include:

  • Randall K. Roenigk, MD—American Board of Dermatology
  • George D. Wendel Jr., MD—American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

About ABMS

Established in 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is the leading not-for profit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States. ABMS supports 24 Member Boards that develop educational and professional standards and programs of assessment to certify physician specialists, all dedicated to improving the quality of care to the patients, families and communities they serve. More than 900,000 physicians are certified in one or more of 40 specialties and 87 subspecialties offered by the ABMS Member Boards. For more information about ABMS, visit abms.org or call (312) 436-2600.


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