Chair
President, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Dr. Riley is an academic primary care general internist with 25+ years of progressively senior executive level management, policy, and leadership. Before Dr. Riley’s appointment at Downstate, he served as clinical professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. From 2007-2013, Dr. Riley served with distinction as 10th president, chief executive officer, and professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College.

In 2020, Dr. Riley began as a Commissioner of the US Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). He is President Emeritus, Former Regent, and a Master of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Dr. Riley is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). In June of 2021—alongside Drs. Anthony Fauci and Eric Topol—Dr. Riley was awarded the National Medical Humanism Medal by Arnold P. Gold Foundation for his leadership during the pandemic and advocacy towards addressing health disparities and anti-racism in medicine and healthcare.

Dr. Riley is President of the Society of Medical Administrators, and on the Boards of Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, YMCA of Greater NY, Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens, Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, and on the boards of HCA Healthcare, Inc. and Compass Pathways, PLC.

Dr. Riley earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Morehouse School of Medicine, Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, and Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. He has received three honorary degrees from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Tuskegee University, and Mount St. Joseph University