Kirch
President Emeritus, Association of American Medical Colleges
2021 Speaker • CU Alumnus

Dr. Darrell G. Kirch is president emeritus and former CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which represents the nation's medical schools, their teaching hospitals and health systems and related academic societies. Dr. Kirch currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Kirch speaks and publishes widely on the need for transformation in the nation’s health care system and how academic institutions can lead change. He chaired the Washington Higher Education Secretariat and served on the American Council on Education board of directors. In 2007, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. As champion for the well-being of the nation’s health workers, he is co-chair of the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. He also is a member of the board of regents of the American College of Psychiatrists.

Kirch served as dean, university senior vice president and academic health system leader of the Medical College of Georgia and the Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He co-chaired the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting body for U.S. medical schools, and chaired the national AAMC Council of Deans.

A psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist by training, Kirch began his academic career at the National Institute of Mental Health, becoming chief of the Schizophrenia Research Branch, serving as the acting scientific director and receiving the Outstanding Service Medal of the U.S. Public Health Service. A native of Denver, he earned his BA and MD degrees from the University of Colorado and in 2002 received the Silver and Gold Award from the University of Colorado Medical Alumni Association.