Keynote Speakers

Daniel E. Dawes, JD
Senior Vice President and Executive Director
Institute of Global Health Equity
Meharry Medical College

AUPHA is pleased to announce the 2023 pre-conference speaker, Daniel E. Dawes, JD. Professor Dawes is a widely respected healthcare and public health leader, health policy expert, educator, and researcher who serves as the Senior Vice President and Executive Director for the Institute of Global Health Equity at Meharry Medical College.  He is the author of two groundbreaking books, 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health, both published by Johns Hopkins University Press. His many achievements include being an instrumental figure in developing and negotiating the Mental Health Parity Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, and the Affordable Care Act’s health equity-focused provisions, among other landmark federal policies, as well as serving as the principal investigator for the nation’s first health equity tracker.  Professor Dawes was also co-founder of the Health Equity Leadership and Exchange Network (HELEN),  and co-principal investigator of the HHS National COVID-19 Resiliency Network. Professor Dawes is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He serves as an advisor to The White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, an appointed member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee to the Director and co-chair of the CDC’s Health Equity Working Group, as well as the NIH’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research.

We are grateful to the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) for sponsoring this pre-conference event.

Michael Rao, PhD
President
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System

AUPHA is pleased to announce that Michael Rao, PhD, President, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, will be the 2023 AUPHA Annual Meeting's Andrew Pattullo Lecturer. The Andrew Pattullo Lecture officially opens the Annual Meeting, and will be on held on Thursday, June 29th, 1:00 p.m. - 2:15PM. The lecture is a major contribution to the professional education of health services administrators, and is designed to enrich the perspectives of educators. The lecturer is someone who health administration educators are not likely to be otherwise exposed, and brings perspectives from outside of the usual focus areas of the health administration field. 

About Michael Rao

Michael Rao, PhD, currently serves as the fifth president of VCU and VCU Health System, and is also a tenured professor in the VCU College of health Professions. President Rao leads this nationally premier, urban public research university with an academic health system whose flagship hospital, VCU Medical Center, is ranked among the top 100 hospitals in the nation. VCU educates more than 29,000 students from 101 countries in more than 220 degree and certificate programs. As the largest employer in the Richmond, VA area and among the largest in the commonwealth, VCU has an economic impact on Virginia of $9.5 billion. Additionally, VCUarts Qatar — located in Doha’s Education City — is internationally recognized for excellence in art and design.

President Rao’s mission to put students and patients first is reflected in VCU’s recalibrated strategic plan. Revised to meet the needs of the VCU community post-pandemic, the plan allows the university to better meet the needs of the university and academic medical community, while focusing on improving the experience of students and patients, strengthening educator and researcher compensation, and increasing national prominence through research.

President Rao serves as chair of the Virginia Bio+Tech Partnership Authority, and is a member with the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, Northern Virginia Technology Council, and American Council on Education. Additionally, he is past chair of the Virginia Council of Presidents, a consortium of leaders serving the Commonwealth's colleges and universities. President Rao holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and a PhD from the University of Florida. His career in higher education began in California in 1992, when he became president of Mission College. He then went on to serve as chancellor of Montana State University, Northern and president of Central Michigan University. [Click here to learn more about President Rao]