Two University of Florida Health Science Center senior faculty members are officially part of the graduating class of 2010. These accomplished women, already with a number of professional titles attached to their names, are going back to school to become better prepared for executive positions in academic medicine.
Maureen A. Novak, M.D.
University of Florida College of Medicine’s Maureen A. Novak, M.D., associate dean for medical education and vice chair of pediatric education, and Mary Frances Stavropoulos, D.D.S., associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery for the College of Dentistry, were selected for the 2010 class of fellows in the national leadership program Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women at Drexel University’s College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
With the goal to increase the presence of women in high-level administrative positions in medical institutions, ELAM candidates are women who already hold leadership positions and demonstrate the potential to advance to the executive level within five years.
“The ELAM fellowship experience is like no other, providing opportunities for self-reflection, application of new concepts and perspectives, and entry into a network of women leaders eager to support each other’s advancement,” said Diane Magrane, M.D., the director of Drexel University College of Medicine’s Center for Executive Leadership in Academics, which hosts the ELAM program.
Mary Frances Stavropoulos, D.D.S.
Novak and Stavropoulos are two of only 53 senior faculty women selected for the program and represent 49 medical, dental, and public health schools across the nation. Dr. Alma Littles, a 1986 graduate from the College of Medicine, also was selected for this year’s class of fellows. Littles is senior associate dean for medical education and academic affairs at the Florida State University College of Medicine.
They join several UF College of Medicine and College of Dentistry leaders who are also ELAM alumnae. The first ELAM graduate from UF was Nancy Hardt, M.D., senior associate dean for external affairs, who was selected as a fellow of the first group in 1995.
Throughout the year-long experience, ELAM fellows build on their executive management and institutional leadership skills, such as strategic finance, organizational dynamics, and personal and professional effectiveness in a health-care setting.