Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice Leads Morehouse School of Medicine

Let me tell you about Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice.

There’s a doctor who treats something most people never think about: the diseases that hit women of color hardest, and the pipeline that trains the doctors who care for them. She became the first woman to lead a freestanding medical school in the United States. Her name is Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice.

The Work

Dr. Montgomery Rice is the President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta — the sixth president in the school’s history, and the first woman to hold the job. She kept the deanship, too, because why hand off the part you love?

She’s a renowned infertility specialist and researcher. Before Morehouse, she founded and directed the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College — one of the first research centers in the country devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color. She went on to serve as dean of Meharry’s School of Medicine and senior vice president of health affairs.

In other words: she has led at the highest level of patient care, medical research, and health policy — all three, not just one.

The Roots

Dr. Montgomery Rice built her career across Georgia and Tennessee, with a chemistry degree from Georgia Tech and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Her whole path has been about the places where science meets who gets cared for — and who gets overlooked.

She has spent years making sure Morehouse School of Medicine isn’t just a school, but a force: research, community health, and a steady stream of Black physicians into a system that desperately needs them.

Why You Should Know Her

Here’s why Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice matters: health disparities don’t fix themselves. They get fixed by people who study them, name them, and build institutions powerful enough to outlast them. She has done all three — and she did it while making history as the first woman to run a freestanding medical school.

When you see a Black woman physician walk into a room and change it, there’s a good chance Dr. Montgomery Rice helped open the door.

Quick facts:

• President & CEO, Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta)
• First woman to lead a freestanding U.S. medical school
• Founder, Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College
• Renowned infertility specialist & researcher
• Georgia Tech (B.S. Chemistry) · Harvard Medical School (M.D.)

Photo courtesy of Morehouse School of Medicine (msm.edu)