Page 3 - IMPACT Campaign Council - Sept. 2020

Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG
President and Dean

Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, is the sixth President of Morehouse School of Medicine
and the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution. A renowned infertility specialist
and researcher, she also serves as Dean of the school, where she has served since 2011.
A Georgia native, Montgomery Rice holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Georgia
Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, an honorary degree from
the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree
from Rush University. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory Univer-
sity School of Medicine and her fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Hutzel
Hospital.

Dr. Montgomery Rice initially thought she wanted to become a surgeon. Always looking for a great challenge, she thought it
would be the most demanding and rewarding of ways to pursue a career in medicine. She was always very data-driven, with an
engineer’s mindset. But during her obstetrics-gynecology rotation, something changed.
She stood to the side and listened as a doctor met with his patient. The doctor was kind, speaking with intelligence and sinceri-
ty. It was a bedside manner unlike any she’d ever seen. She could see the patient responding, understanding, and feeling better, no
matter the prognosis. This doctor wasn’t just practicing medicine; he was helping people become healthier, wiser, freer, and more
autonomous. And she realized this was the kind of medicine she wanted to practice.
Dr. Montgomery Rice carried this with her when she later moved into academic medicine, taking on faculty positions and
leadership roles, including one as founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College. It
was one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.
Her work has been widely recognized by many publications and organizations, including the Horatio Alger Association of
Distinguished Americans. She was selected for inclusion in the Association’s Class of 2017 for “utilizing her leadership role to
give back to the community,” according to the announcement. She was celebrated for giving time, resources, and other support to
such organizations as the Girl Scouts of America, the National Medical Fellows, March of Dimes, the Society for Women’s Health
Research, the United Negro College Fund, and the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Other honors include: The Turknett Leadership Character Award (2018), Visions of Excellence Award, Atlanta Business
League (2018), Links Incorporated Co-Founders Award (2018), Trumpet Vanguard Award (2015), the Dorothy I. Height Crystal
Stair Award (2014), National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Women of Impact (2014), YWCA – Women of Achievement of
Atlanta-(2014) and Nashville (2007), American Medical Women’s Association Elizabeth Blackwell Medal (2011), and Working
Mother Media Multicultural Women’s Legacy Award (2011).

Montgomery Rice holds memberships in various organizations and participates on a number of boards, including: the Na-
tional Academy of Medicine, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Kaiser
Permanente School of Medicine, the Nemours Foundation, UnitedHealth Group, the Westside Future Fund, the Josiah Macy Jr.
Foundation, and the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans.

She was instrumental in MSM’s decision to “adopt” the Tuskegee Airmen Global Academy, a Title I elementary school, and
developing a STEM lab, mentoring programs, and other programming for children at the school. She is also an active member of
the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Links.
Montgomery Rice is married to her fellow Georgia Institute of Technology alumnus, Melvin Rice Jr., and they have two chil-
dren: Jayne and Melvin III.