New Leadership at Meharry Medical College

Crisis, The, Mar/Apr 2007 by Petrie, Owen

Q+A

In January, Dr. Wayne J. Riley became the 10th president and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. Founded in 1876, Meharry is the nation's largest Black private institution dedicated to improving the health and healthcare of minority and underserved communities.

A native of New Orleans, Riley, 47, received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Yale University and his medical degree from Morehouse in 1993. He also has a master's in public health from Tulane University and an MBA from Rice University.

The married father of two was previously vice president and vice dean for health affairs and governmental relations at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The position made him the first African American corporate officer in the school's history.

Dr. Riley spoke to The Crisis about his new role and goals for the medical school.

Why did you accept this position?

As the son of a Meharry graduate, I feel a special sense of connectedness to, and strong support for, Meharry's unique role and strong legacy of educating and training physicians, dentists, clinical investigators and public health professionals who are imbued with a strong commitment to serving the interests of medically underserved communities.

Are foreign medical schools competitors for prospective Meharry students?

While many foreign medical schools have upgraded to reflect an American-style medical school education, we're special in terms of training individuals to go out to rural and underserved areas in America and throughout the world. We train a special cadre of medical and dental students and biomedical professionals. We're one of the national leaders in addressing healthcare disparities in the United States.

How will Meharry keep up with the growing pace of medical technology?

Meharry seeks to be a leader in nanotechnology and bioinformatics. The challenge is having the infrastructure to compete with other larger universities in terms of having staff that is expert in those areas and maintaining the necessary facilities. That's why we are seeking to collaborate with multiple institutions, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and others. Meharry wants to play a role in the teaching and development of new technologies with a special focus on diseases and disparity in healthcare.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as president?

I have to get the story out about how important a well-funded [Nashville General Hospital at Meharry] is to not only the Nashville area, but also the entire state.

What are your goals for the school?

I have some ideas about what I'd like to see to make sure that we're well-positioned now and in the future to achieve great things in concordance with our mission. But I need to listen and learn and will do so intensively during my first six months. "We" is my favorite pronoun, not "I." I really believe in a collective effort. Our success will be collaborative, relying on everyone to achieve and keep Meharry at the forefront of the medical, dental and biomedical professions.

- Interview by Owen Petrie