On behalf of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, I am honored to provide this President’s Message as part of our 2025 Annual Report.
Last year was particularly challenging for our Foundation. In addition to coping with the disruption and disinvestment that we are all witnessing in American higher education, health care, and biomedical research, we suffered a loss both personal and professional with the death last April of the Foundation’s eighth President, Dr. Holly J. Humphrey. As a beloved physician-educator turned foundation leader, Dr. Humphrey leaves behind an enduring legacy: her own brand of intelligence, expertise, and curiosity combined with unshakeable integrity, genuine kindness and compassion, joyful optimism, and a true commitment to honesty and openness. It was an honor and privilege to know her, to work with her, to count her as a colleague and friend.
In October, in recognition of Dr. Humphrey’s distinguished career and the positive impact she had on the Foundation and on health professions education in general, the board of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation made two major gifts in her honor. A $1.95M gift was given to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine to establish a medical education scholarship as well as a transition-to-residency fund, both designed to support students with demonstrated financial need. The board also made a $50K gift to support the annual Holly J. Humphrey Distinguished Lectureship in Medical Education at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, where Dr. Humphrey was Chair of the Board of Directors. These two gifts reflect Dr. Humphrey’s stature as an educator and leader, and they align with her deep and abiding commitment to support the next generation of physicians.
While last year was in many ways difficult for the Macy Foundation, we remain committed to our mission to improve the education of health professionals. In 2025, we continued advancing our three priority areas through the following activities.
AI in Medical Education: Conference Recommendations Published and Grants Awarded
In November 2024, the Foundation hosted 45 technology experts, medical educators, and other stakeholders at the Macy Conference on AI in Medical Education. The meeting resulted in a set of recommendations intended to help medical educators harness the potential of AI safely, ethically, and equitably. The recommendations were published in September 2025 in a special supplement of Academic Medicine and were also featured in a jointly sponsored webinar series with the AAMC.
Further, immediately following the conference, the Macy Foundation launched a new funding opportunity, AI in Medical Education: A Grants Program to Advance Innovation in Medical Education. The program awarded grants to three demonstration projects that are exploring different issues related to the use of AI to enhance medical education and improve patient care.
Catalyst Awards Promote Transformation in Graduate Medical Education
In February 2026, we will announce the recipients of the 2026 Catalyst Awards for Transformation in GME. This will be the fourth cycle of awards made as part of a multi-year initiative to design, implement, and evaluate innovative strategies that facilitate positive changes in the clinical learning environment for medical residents and fellows. Following the 2026 awards, the Macy Foundation will pause the program after four cycles of funding in order to evaluate its effectiveness. We plan to engage external experts to help us assess the impact of our investments and gain insight into how we might make this initiative more robust and useful for leaders and learners in graduate medical education.
New Grants Programs in Support of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging
In October 2025, we launched a limited solicitation grants program that makes gap funding available to members of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation community whose work has focused efforts to ensure that all who learn, teach, and work in clinical environments are treated equitably and have full opportunities to thrive. This opportunity—grants are available now through October 2026—will support current and former grantees who may have lost funding for their work in this area, which is one of the Foundation’s priority areas. Our goal is to demonstrate both sensitivity to the current moment and fidelity to our mission, while protecting important investments made by the Foundation in support of our values.
In January 2026, the Macy Foundation launched a new grant program emanating from its 2022 conference, Ensuring Fairness of Medical Education Assessment. The purpose of both the conference and its resulting consensus recommendations was to address documented bias and discrimination in assessment that impede learners’ opportunities to fulfill their potential as health professionals and, ultimately, improve quality of care for all patients. In the next year, the Foundation will identify three innovative projects in medicine and/or nursing education programs to design, implement, and evaluate innovative learner assessment programs that ensure fairness for physicians and nurses in training.
Update on Our Board of Directors
The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation’s efforts to improve health professions education are made possible by our Board of Directors, whose members ensure that the Foundation’s activities align with our mission and are carried out in a manner in which we can all take pride. We extend our gratitude to Dr. Terry Fulmer and Dr. Stephen Safyer, who have completed their terms on our board after each serving for 12 years on the Board. Terry and Steve have both made invaluable contributions to the direction of our programming, the oversight of our investments, and the curation of new Board members. Throughout their tenure, they exemplified thoughtful stewardship of the Foundation and its philanthropic mission to improve health professions education.
As we say farewell to Drs. Fulmer and Safyer, we welcome Dr. David Nichols and Dr. Mary Naylor to our board.
- David G. Nichols, MD, MBA, is Emeritus President and CEO of the American Board of Pediatrics, as well as Emeritus Professor of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
- Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Professor in Gerontology and Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Update on the Next President of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Over the next year, our Board of Directors will be actively engaged in a search for the ninth President to lead the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation forward and sustain its stature as a trusted leader in advancing innovation, collaboration, and equity in health professions education.
Finally, we want to thank all of those who supported the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation over this last year. We are grateful for the many gestures of generosity and care which we received. Further, we deeply appreciate all that you do on a daily basis to advance the mission of the Foundation and its efforts to transform health professions education to better serve the public. We look forward to our ongoing work together in 2026.
