Leonard Friedman, PhD, MPH, FACHE is the Association of University Programs in Health Administration’s (AUPHA) 2019 Faculty of the Year. A professor in the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health’s (Milken Institute SPH) Department of Health Policy and Management, Friedman directs the school’s Executive Master of Health Services Administration (MHA@GW) program. He is also a professor in the residential Health Administration master’s program.
“Receiving this award from the organization that fosters excellence in health management and policy education and scholarship is such a great honor,” says Friedman, who is an expert on the mechanisms of organizational change and strategic decision-making in health service organizations. It is only the second year that the award is being presented to honor a faculty member.
Friedman’s recent achievements include successfully shepherding the MHA@GW program through the Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Management Education’s (CAHME) accreditation process. The program is now fully accredited by CAHME, and the accreditation is retroactive through fall 2017.
"My goal as an instructor is to impress upon my students the critical role they play as health care leaders to create and sustain the systems that allow clinicians to do their best work and deliver care that is safe, effective and of the highest possible quality," Friedman says. He has taught classes in health care management, organizational theory and behavior in health care, health care law and regulation, strategic management and leadership in health care organizations.
The most gratifying part of being a health administration instructor, for Friedman, is seeing what his students are able to achieve. He is always pleased when alumni of the program contact him to let him know of an instance where something they learned in the classroom helped them as a working professional.
Friedman arrived at the Milken Institute School of Public Health in 2008 from Oregon State University, where he was professor in the Department of Public Health and coordinator of the school's health management and policy programs. He has been a member of AUPHA since 1992 and he has gone to every one of the organization’s meeting since 1995. He is a former board chair of the organization.
Friedman will be recognized for his achievement during the 2019 AUPHA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, June 12-14, 2019.