Joseph E. Kerschner, MD, Named Chair-elect of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Medical College of Wisconsin Dean, School of Medicine, Continues National Leadership Role

Milwaukee, Nov. 12, 2018 – Joseph E. Kerschner, MD, Dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Provost and Executive Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin, has been named chair-elect of the board of directors of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). His one-year term began on November 6, 2018 and will continue through the conclusion of Learn Serve Lead: The AAMC Annual Meeting in November 2019. At that time, he will serve a one-year term as chair, followed by a one-year term as immediate past chair.

The AAMC is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming healthcare through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members are all 152 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their more than 173,000 full-time faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.

Joseph E. Kerschner, MD

“This new role places MCW at the forefront of academic medicine. The chair, chair-elect and immediate past chair of the AAMC board are integral in helping set the strategic direction of the AAMC – which is, without question, one of the nation's most influential organizations for academic medicine and advocacy,” Dr. Kerschner commented. “In this leadership role at the AAMC, I will have a wonderful opportunity to help shape strategies that will increase the effectiveness of the AAMC in areas which are critical for the success of our medical schools and academic health systems.”

Dr. Kerschner became the dean of the school of medicine and executive vice president of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in November 2011 following 10 months as interim dean. He assumed the additional role of provost in 2017 and also serves as professor in the departments of otolaryngology and communication sciences and microbiology and immunology. Prior to being named chair-elect of the AAMC board of directors, Dr. Kerschner served as chair of the AAMC council of deans. Dr. Kerschner maintains an active membership on numerous professional and honorary societies, is past president of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology and current president of the International Society for Otitis Media.

“This appointment is further meaningful recognition of Dr. Kerschner’s tremendous leadership at MCW and at the national level, where he nurtures top talent, spearheads initiatives to build new strategic partnerships and addresses the challenges facing academic medicine,” said John R. Raymond, Sr., MD, president and chief executive officer of the Medical College of Wisconsin. “His expertise continues to benefit the whole of academic medicine and the challenges facing its many missions.”

Dr. Kerschner earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated from MCW’s school of medicine in 1990. He then completed a residency in otolaryngology at the University of South Florida in Tampa. After then returning to MCW to complete a fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, he joined the MCW faculty in 1998.