The Bishop Society is intended to serve as a professional home for mid- and senior career faculty who have held multiple leadership positions within and outside of family medicine. Up to three new members will be added to the Bishop Society each year. The following criteria will be used to select new Bishop Society members.
- Winners of the annual F. Marian Bishop Leadership Award will be automatically nominated for membership.
- Nominations will be accepted from the STFM Board, the STFM Foundation Board, the STFM Nominations Committee, and from current Bishop Society Members. STFM members can also self nominate.
- Each year, the STFM Board will announce a call for nominations to the general membership and will recommend nominees to the Nominations Committee for consideration. The Bishop Society will develop its own prioritized list of nominees to recommend to the STFM Nominations Committee.
- The STFM Nominations Committee has the final decision on determining new members to the Bishop Society.
- Factors used to select new Bishop Society members include:
- STFM members interested in promoting the mission of STFM and acting as mentors and consultants to other STFM members.
- STFM members who have made significant contributions to family medicine education over time.
- STFM members who have held multiple leadership positions within and outside family medicine.
To self-nominate, please send the following materials to Sandy Van Tuyl by August 30 to svantuyl@stfm.org:
- Name, address, email address, photo, biosketch, and CV
- A one-page letter explaining why you are interested in being a Bishop Society member and your agreement to support the ongoing mission of STFM.
The STFM Nominations Committee will select up to three new Bishop Society members annually. Nominees not selected will be reconsidered for 3 years after the nomination. The new Bishop Society members will be announced in November.
Current Leadership
The Bishop Society is led by a chair and vice chair, who are recommended by the Bishop Society members and approved by the STFM Nominations Committee. These leadership roles have 3-year terms, which may be renewed upon approval by the STFM Nominations Committee. An STFM Board member will be appointed by the STFM president to serve as liaison to the Bishop Society.
Current Leaders
Jeffrey Borkan, MD, PhD, cochair
Valerie Gilchrist, MD, cochair
Jeannette South-Paul, MD, cochair
Current Members:
Alfred Berg, MD, MPH
Klea Bertakis, MD, MPH
Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, MD
Stephen P. Bogdewic, PhD, MA
Jeffrey Borkan, MD, PhD
Marjorie Bowman, MD
Elizabeth Burns, MD, MA
Lucy Candib, MD
Peter Carek, MD
Patricia Carney, PhD
Jack Colwill, MD
Joshua Freeman, MD
John Frey III, MD
Valerie Gilchrist, MD
Robert Graham, MD
Kevin Grumbach, MD
Warren Heffron, MD
David Henderson, MD
Jeri Hepworth, PhD
James Herman, MD, MSPH
Joseph Hobbs, MD
William Hueston, MD
Norman Kahn, MD
Victoria Kaprielian, MD
Lars Larsen, MD
Michael Magill, MD
Carlos Moreno, MD, MSPH
Warren Newton, MD, MPH
Thomas Norris, MD
Daniel Ostergaard, MD
Elissa Palmer, MD
C.J. Peek, PhD
Robert L. Phillips Jr, MD, MSPH
Denise Rodgers, MD
John Saultz, MD
Joseph Scherger, MD
Julie Schirmer, ACSW, LCSW
Thomas Schwenk, MD
Edward Shahady, MD
Jeannette South-Paul, MD
Jeffrey Susman, MD
David Swee, MD
Mark Stephens, MD
Deborah Taylor, PhD (posthumous member)
Robert Taylor, MD
Janet Townsend, MD
Daniel VanDurme, MD, MPH
Judy Washington, MD
Steven Zweig, MD, MSPH
On August 2, 2018, the STFM Board of Directors approved a proposal to create the Bishop Society as a platform for recognition and interaction of senior leaders among STFM’s members. This proposal was made by the 30 previous recipients of the STFM-sponsored Bishop Fellowship, with John Saultz, MD, as the lead author.
The Bishop Fellowship was created by a generous donation from the estate of F. Marian Bishop to the STFM Foundation and accepted its first class in 2001. After funding for the program was discontinued, the last class of fellows completed the program in 2016. Since the beginning of the program, current and former Bishop Fellows have met each year at the STFM annual meeting under the leadership of the fellowship director, Robert Graham, MD. The purpose of these meetings has been to allow former fellows to remain in contact with one another and discuss issues related to the fellowship and leadership in academic family medicine.
With the end of the fellowship, the group looked for models so the community could continue and recognize senior leaders in academic family medicine and contribute to STFM’s mission. The group’s plan was approved by the STFM Board.
The STFM Board invited individuals to be founding members of the Bishop Society 1) all former Bishop Fellows, 2) the fellowship director, and 3) all former winners of the STFM Foundation’s F. Marian Bishop Leadership Award.
