George Annas

George Annas, J.D., M.P.H., 2007, the Edward R. Utley Professor and chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights at the Boston University School of Public Health, has been called “the father of patient rights” and is the author of numerous books on health law and bioethics.

DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr.

DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr., M.D., 2010, Scholar-in-Residence at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), is known as the earliest advocate and pioneer of interprofessionalism in health care and is a prolific researcher and author in the areas of moral development, interdisciplinary health professions education, and medical ethics.

Tom L. Beauchamp

Tom L. Beauchamp, Ph.D., 2004, Professor of Philosophy and Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, wrote the bulk of The Belmont Report (1978) as a member of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and has authored numerous publications including Principles of Biomedical Ethics (now in its 7th edition) with co-author James Childress.

Virginia Trotter Betts

Virginia Trotter Betts, M.S.N., J.D., F.A.A.N., 2003, served as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, Director for Health Policy and Professor of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, and the Senior Advisor on Nursing and Policy to the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

David Brushwood

David Brushwood, R.Ph., J.D., 2012, Professor of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has published numerous works in the areas of regulating for outcomes, pharmacist professional responsibility, and pain management policy.

Robert A. Buerki

Robert A. Buerki, Ph.D., R.Ph., 2006, an expert on professional ethics and the history of pharmacy, is the author of more than 80 published works and co-author, with Louis D. Vottero, of Ethical Responsibility in Pharmacy Practice.

James F. Childress

James F. Childress, Ph.D., 2004, University Professor and the John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics and Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life at the University of Virginia, is author of numerous influential works in bioethics including Principles of Biomedical Ethics (with Tom L. Beauchamp), now in its 7th edition, and has been a member the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (1996-2001).

Thomas E. Corts

Thomas E. Corts, Ph.D., 2006, (1941-2009) was President of Samford University from 1983 until his retirement in 2006, and it was during this time and because of his support, that the Healthcare Ethics and Law Institute was established.

Ronald E. Cranford

Ronald E. Cranford, M.D., 2004, (1940-2006), a brain injury expert, who as an adviser to the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research helped establish clearer standards to determine when a patient is in a deep coma or a vegetative state and was known by his involvement in landmark cases such as those involving Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo.

Farr Curlin

Farr Curlin, MD, 2019, is a hospice and palliative care physician at Duke University where he holds joint appointments in the School of Medicine, including its Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine, and in Duke Divinity School. As an ethicist, he addresses questions regarding whether and in what ways physicians' religious commitments ought to shape their clinical practices in a plural democracy.

Patricia M. Danzon

Patricia M. Danzon, Ph.D., 2016, the Celia Moh Professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of economics of health care, the biopharmaceutical industry, and insurance and has published widely in scholarly journals on a broad range of subjects related to health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, insurance, and the economics of law.

Sister Virginia Delaney

Sister Virginia Delaney, D.C., 2002, was vice president for mission services at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, staffed the first ethics committee founded in Birmingham, and because of her work with the Alabama Hospital Association in helping other institutions create ethics committees, she has been called the "Johnny Appleseed of ethics committees" in the state.

Joseph O. Dean, Jr.

Joseph O. Dean, Jr., Ph.D., 2011., Emeritus Dean and Professor of the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University, was instrumental in establishing and funding the Healthcare Ethics and Law Institute through his work with former Samford President Dr. Thomas Corts and alumnus and benefactor R. Clayton McWhorter.

Carl Elliott

Carl Elliott, M.D., Ph.D., 2013, Professor in the Center for Bioethics and the Departments of Pediatrics and Philosophy, explores corruption, enhancement technologies, and influence of market forces on medicine in his numerous publications including, White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine.

Linda L. Emanuel

Linda L. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D. , 2004, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Director of the Buehler Center on Aging, Health & Society at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is a world renown expert on palliative care and former head of the Institute for Ethics at the American Medical Association.

H. Tristram Engelhardt

H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Ph.D., M.D., 2015, a pioneer and prominent voice in the bioethics movement, Professor of Philosophy at Rice University and Professor Emeritus at Baylor College of Medicine, has authored more than 400 works in three languages in the areas of bioethics, genetics, secular humanism, the deprofessionalization of medicine, and Christian theology and ethics.

Joseph L. Fink

Joseph L. Fink, B.S., Pharm., J.D., 2010, Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, has authored hundreds of scholarly publications in the areas of law pertaining to pharmacy, pharmacists and pharmaceuticals, food and drug law, and health care law.

John C. Fletcher

John C. Fletcher, Ph.D., 2001 (1932-2004), a mentor and a pioneer of clinical bioethics, was a founding Fellow of the Hastings Center, the first Chief of the Bioethics Program at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, the Founding Director of the Center for Bioethics and professor of biomedical ethics at the University of Virginia.

Scott Gottlieb

Scott Gottlieb, MD, 2019, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the 23rd commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (2017-2019).  While at the FDA, Gottlieb focused on a wide variety of issues, including drug pricing, medical product innovation, food safety, vaccination, and tobacco and vaping. He also helped make the regulatory process for the development and review of novel drug and medical devices more efficient.

Amy Marie Haddad

Amy Marie Haddad, Ph.D., M.S.N., 2007, Director for the Center for Health Policy & Ethics and the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences at Creighton University, has published numerous journal articles and several books such as The Health Professional and Patient Interaction (6th edition), authored with R. B. Purtilo.

Stanley Hauerwas

Stanley Hauerwas, Ph.D., 2008, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at the Divinity School of Duke University and author of hundreds peer-reviewed articles and dozens of books on medical ethics, issues of war and peace, and the care of the mentally handicapped, was instrumental reclaiming the importance of character and the virtues in Christian living. 

Robert B. Helms

Robert B. Helms, Ph.D., 2008, is a resident scholar in health policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.  He has written and lectured extensively on health policy, health economics, and pharmaceutical economic issues.  Helms participates in the Consensus Group, an informal task force that is developing market-oriented health reform concepts. He also serves on the Institute for Health Technology Studies’ (InHealth) Research Council.  

Sandra H. Johnson

Sandra H. Johnson, J.D., LL.M., 2003, Professor Emerita of Law and Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University School of Law is the author of numerous publications in health law and bioethics including the casebook Health Law: Cases, Materials and Problems, now in its seventh edition, cited several times by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Albert R. Jonsen

Albert R. Jonsen, Ph.D., 2002, Emeritus Professor of Ethics in Medicine at the School of Medicine, University of Washington, served as Commissioner on the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1974-1978) and on The President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine (1979-1982).  He has authored or co-authored numerous influential publications.

Loretta M. Kopelman

Loretta M. Kopelman, Ph.D., 2008, founding chair and Professor of Medical Humanities at the Brody School of Medicine, founding president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and President of the Society for Health and Human Values, has published over 140 articles and book chapters on in a variety of areas, including medical ethics and bioethics.

John D. Lantos

John D. Lantos, M.D., 2012, Director of the Children’s Mercy Bioethics Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri at Kansas City is the author of over 200 refereed journal articles, numerous books and book chapters on bioethics, doctor–patient communication, research ethics, end-of-life care, and the ethics of clinical trials.

Karen Lebacqz

Karen Lebacqz, Ph.D., 2009, the Robert Gordon Sproul Professor of Theological Ethics, Emerita at the Pacific School of Religion, has published numerous articles in scientific journals and church magazines in the areas of professional ethics, bioethics, and ethical theory and  has served on many policy-making boards and bodies, including the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects.

Lisa M. Lee

Lisa M. Lee, Ph.D., M.S, 2014, Executive Director of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues is an epidemiologist, surveillance scientist, and public health ethicist who has published numerous works including Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance, 3rd edition, in which she is the lead editor.

Donald W. Light

Donald W. Light, Ph.D., 2016, Professor at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, is a distinguished medical and economic sociologist who has worked toward the goal of reducing barriers to health care among disadvantaged populations by researching and publishing extensively in the areas of institutional and global bioethics concerning access and quality problems for medical services and drugs.

William F. May

William F. May, Ph.D., 2008, author of several influential books such as The Physician’s Covenant, has served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics (2002- 2004) and as a Founding Fellow of The Hastings Center, was a Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University and held a chair as the Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Professor of Christian Ethics in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.

R. Clayton McWhorter

R. Clayton McWhorter, 2001, (1933-1916) founder of HealthTrust Inc. and LifeTrust America and the principal benefactor of Samford’s pharmacy school, was a strong champion of clinical ethics and made the initial challenge grant to create  Healthcare Ethics and Law Institute at Samford University.

Alan Meisel

Alan Meisel, J.D., 2004, an expert on both the theory and the practice of informed consent and the right to refuse medical treatment, holds appointments in the School of Law and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and has served as assistant director for legal studies on the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research.

Steven Miles

Steven Miles, M.D., 2006, professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, whose work has changed health insurance, end of life care, the use of restraints in nursing homes, refugee camp medicine, and prison medical ethics, has hundreds of publications including his book,The Hippocratic Oath and the Ethics of Medicine.

Edmund D. Pellegrino

Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D., M.A.C.P., 2001, the first recipient of the Pellegrino Medal and its namesake, received the first lifetime achievement award granted by the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, and its presentation, he was named the “father of the American bioethics movement.”  He was Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and the founding director of the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center, Chair of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and author of over 600 works.

Gregory E. Pence

Gregory E. Pence, Ph.D., 2006, Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is the author of numerous scholarly publications including, Classic Cases in Medical Ethics: Accounts of the Cases that Shaped Medical Ethics, now in 7th edition, and many essays and news articles for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Birmingham News.

Joy Hinson Penticuff

Joy Hinson Penticuff, R.N., Ph.D., 2010, Director of Nursing Program Development at Concordia University and Professor Emerita at the University of Texas at Austin, has authored numerous refereed journal articles and book chapters and has served as chair of the Expert Panel on Ethics and the Ethics Think Tank for the American Academy of Nursing.

Robert Record

Robert Record, M.D. is a family physician and serves as the CEO and medical director of Christ Health Center in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Birmingham. In addition to the clinic, he founded The Birmingham Dream Center with Church of the Highlands and continues to serve on the staff as an associate pastor of outreach.

Christine Ritchie

Christine Ritchie, M.D., M.S.P.H. is the Harris Fishbon Distinguished Professor in Clinical Translational Research and Aging at the University of California San Francisco. Ritchie has assisted in the development of a wide array of comprehensive clinical programs for seriously ill older adults, first in Louisville, where she started a Veterans Affairs (VA)-based Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care Program, then at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and more recently at the University of California San Francisco.

David Satcher

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., 2011, the 16th Surgeon General of the United States,is Director of The Satcher Health Leadership Institute and the Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia and has served as Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lawrence Schneiderman

Lawrence Schneiderman, M.D., 2007, Professor emeritus in the Departments of Family Medicine and Public Health and Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, is a renowned expert on medical futility and has published more than 170 works, including The Practice of Preventive Health Care,  and Wrong Medicine: Doctor’s Patients and Futile Treatment (with Nancy S. Jecker).

Marian Gray Secundy

Marian Gray Secundy, Ph.D., 2001 (1938-2002), was the inaugural director of the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care (1999-2002) and professor and director of the program in clinical ethics in the Department of Community Health and Family Practice at Howard University’s College of Medicine.

Mark Siegler

Mark Siegler, M.D., 2002, Professor of Medicine and Director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, has published more than 200 works, including his seminal 1981 paper on “A New Model of the Doctor Patient Encounter” which has laid the foundation for the shared decision making model of the doctor-patient relationship in the U.S.

Mickey C. Smith

Mickey C. Smith, Ph.D., 2003, the University of Mississippi’s F.A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pharmacy Administration, is an world renowned expert on pharmaceutical marketing, has published more 450 works, and helped found the Journal of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management.

Patrick T. Smith

Patrick T. Smith, Ph.D., 2022, an Associate Research Professor of Theological Ethics and Bioethics and Senior Fellow, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke, has served as a member of the board of directors for the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. His most recent research and writing are in the areas of moral philosophy, bioethics, theological ethics, end-of-life care, and the religious social ethics of Martin Luther King Jr.

Daniel P. Sulmasy

Daniel P. Sulmasy, O.F.M., M.D., Ph.D., 2009, a Professor of Medicine and Ethics in the Department of Medicine and Divinity School, has published numerous influential works in the areas of end-of life decision-making, ethics education, and spirituality in medicine, and has served on the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

Sister Carol Taylor

Sister Carol Taylor, C.S.F.N., R.N., Ph.D., 2005, senior clinical scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and a Professor of Medicine and Nursing, is the author numerous publications including Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Nursing Care, now in its 8th edition and the 4th edition of Case Studies in Nursing Ethics.

Robert M. Veatch

Robert M. Veatch, Ph.D., 2011, a pioneer of contemporary medical ethics and Professor of Medical Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and a Professor in the Philosophy Department at Georgetown, served as an ethics consultant in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, testified in the case of Baby K, and served as a consultant to the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical Research.

Louis D. Vottero

Louis D. Vottero, M.S., R.Ph., 2006, retired emeritus professor of pharmacy at Ohio Northern University, was a member of the APhA Ethics Revision Committee that developed the current Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and has co-authored, along with Robert Buerki, the widely used textbook, Ethical Responsibility in Pharmacy Practice.

Bruce D. White

Bruce D. White, D.O., JD, 2014, is the founding director of theHealthcare Ethics and Law Institute (HEAL), Director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical Center and Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of Medical Ethics in the medical school, and it is through his tireless efforts and endless creativity that the HEAL Institute was established and has become what it is today. 

William J. Winslade

William J. Winslade, Ph.D., J.D., 2002, Professor of Philosophy in Medicine in the Institute for the Medical Humanities at University of Texas Medical Branch, has written hundreds of refereed articles, book chapters, book reviews, essays, and editorials including the foundational book, Confronting Traumatic Brain Injury: Devastation, Hope and Healing.