Committee Selects Inaugural Speaker for Jordan Memorial Lecture

In September 2021, Dr. Brambrink convened a committee of 12 members to plan for the Desmond A. Jordan, MD Memorial Lecture. The committee consists of the following faculty: Rob Sladen, Lena Sun, Rob Whittington, Bill Schechter, Marc Dickstein, Allison Lee, May Hua, Amy Mesa-Jonassen, Holden Groves, Maya Jalbout Hastie, Michael Argenziano and Bonnie Archer. The committee was charged with selecting a date for the lecture and identifying a speaker whose work reflects Desmond’s values.

The date of the annual lecture was chosen to coincide with Desmond’s birthday in June, as a celebration of his life’s work and enduring legacy. It was challenging to narrow his work to one area. The group recognized that he represented many things to many people: a compassionate patient advocate, a mentor and role model, a creative researcher, an advocate of diversity and inclusion in medicine, and a champion for eliminating health care disparities.

Potential speakers were suggested based on their achievements and the intersection of their work with Desmond’s interests. The group achieved overwhelming agreement to invite Dr. William McDade as the inaugural speaker of the first Desmond Jordan Annual memorial Lecture on June 16th. Dr. McDade is a native of Chicago. After completing his anesthesiology residency at the MGH, he joined the University of Chicago as faculty, then as deputy Provost for Research and Minority Issues and Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs at the Pritzker School of Medicine. He later joined Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer. In 2019, he was appointed as the ACGME's first Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer.

--Maya Jalbout Hastie, MD, EdD

The inaugural Desmond A. Jordan, MD Memorial Lecture will take place on June 16, 2022 at Grand Rounds.