Commencement 2025

Ross-Lee is a nationally recognized expert on health policy issues and serves as an advisor on primary care, medical education, minority health, women’s health, and rural health care issues on the federal and state levels. She is the founding director of the AOA Health Policy Fellowship Program, which prepares mid-career osteopathic physicians for leadership roles in health care. Ross is also the founding director of the Training in (Health) Policy Studies program for osteopathic resident physicians.

Ross-Lee is the first African American woman to serve as dean of a United States medical school (Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, 1993–2001). She is also the first osteopathic physician to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship. Ross-Lee served as a commissioned officer in the United States Naval Reserves Medical Corps, and officer in charge of the PRIMUS Unit for Michigan. She achieved the rank of captain.

She lectures both nationally and internationally and has published numerous scholarly articles on a variety of medical and healthcare issues. She is the recipient of ten honorary degrees and many national awards. Most recently, the ACGME Annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award was named the Barbara Ross-Lee, DO DEI Award in her honor. She has consulted and participated in the development of five new osteopathic schools.

Ross-Lee has served as: chair of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Council of Presidents; chair of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Council on Pre-doctoral Education (pre-dating COCA); and chair of the board of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC). In 1993, Ross-Lee was appointed by the Institute of Medicine as a member of the Planning Committee on the Future of Primary Care, and, in 2012, Ross-Lee was appointed by the Institute of Medicine to serve as a member of the Consensus Committee on Governance and Financing of Graduate Medical Education, which was responsible for recommending reforms to the GME system. Ross-Lee presently serves on the National Academy of Medicine Health Policy Fellowship Leadership Policy (HPFLP) Selection Committee. Ross-Lee assumed the position of president of the American Osteopathic Foundation in January 2022, served as immediate past president of the AOF in 2023, and is currently the director of the AOF Project Future Initiative.

Wruble earned her undergraduate degree from Williams College and her medical degree from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. She served in the United States Army Medical Corps, including a tour as a general medical officer at the 43rd MASH in Camp Humphreys, South Korea. She completed her internship and diagnostic radiology residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., followed by post-doctoral fellowships in body imaging at Georgetown University Medical School and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Wruble retired from the Army with the rank of major.

Wruble serves on the National Cancer Institute’s Board for Cancer Screening and Prevention, which critically evaluates medical literature and maintains evidence-based, up-to-date summaries on cancer screening and prevention for healthcare professionals and patients.

Wruble has worked to enrich radiology teaching in underserved countries. She has contributed substantial time teaching and mentoring residents at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania. She has also developed unique teaching techniques for medical residents and founded GlobalMedEd, Inc., a nonprofit organization for international radiology training. Its initial project is GlobalRadZambia, which comprises the first radiology residency in Zambia and utilizes the teaching talents of a group of top U.S. radiologists recruited by Wruble.

Wruble has undertaken efforts to reduce harm from over-treatment and improving medical decision-making. She has delivered two TEDx talks on related topics—one given at the University of Pennsylvania and another at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Outside of her professional work, Wruble enjoys spending time with her husband and five adult children and stepchildren. She is an avid guitarist and endurance sports enthusiast. She also and works on developing storytelling techniques to enhance medical student and resident education.