What was your path/journey after you graduated from Cornell?
After graduation, I attended Harvard Medical School and received my MD in 1999. I married Lecia VanDam ‘95 at the end of medical school and we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!
From 1999 to 2004, I trained at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in internal medicine and also received my MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health. I have been at BWH/Harvard Medical School since that time in different roles: as a member of the academic faculty (patient care, teaching, research), and for the past ten years, as a member of the senior management team.
My research focuses on the US healthcare system and quality of care, as well as Native American healthcare. I have a particular passion for equity, and have been involved in work related to health care equity, diversity of the physician workforce, and community health. I have been a primary care physician for the past 20 years and love this part of my professional life.
I am currently the Chief Medical Officer for Mass General Brigham, a Harvard-affiliated hospital system including 12 hospitals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I lead our system's efforts to improve patient care, patient experiences, as well as our community health and outreach efforts.
Lecia and I have two children - our older son is ILR ‘26! We love to travel around the US and the world, and particularly love Hawaii. Now that our son is at Cornell, we return frequently. Wow - has that place changed over time!
What is your favorite Class at Cornell? In retrospect, what has proven to be your most useful class from Cornell?
Favorite classes: Those covering Native American history and policy.
Most useful classes: For a practical skill, an engineering course where we learned macro programming in Excel, which I still use today! But all of my engineering courses were incredibly useful. I always tell everyone that the most important thing Cornell Engineering taught me was how to think.
What is your favorite memory from your time at Cornell?
My first year living in Akwe:kon, which was the first year it opened as a program house. All of the people I met and the experiences I had could not be replaced.
What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2025?
I really do love visiting the campus - it is beautiful.