Eleven Black Scholars Have Been Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Of the new members from the United States, it appears that 11 are Black. Nine of the 11 have current ties to the academic world. Nine of the new Black members are women. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. She was honored for her long career of service in health policy, during which she helped to draft and implement the Affordable Care Act while working in Congress and the Obama administration. She is the first Black woman to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Brooks-LaSure received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in New Jersey. She holds a master of public policy degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Robert D. Bullard is a distinguished professor and director of urban planning and environmental policy at the Bullard Center for...