health justice and medical education. Her passions lie in research, community involvement, and diversity. As the first woman to hold the president and chief executive officer position at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Montgomery Rice is actively trying to get that message to many aspiring doctors today.
Montgomery Rice has improved the research laboratories and almost increased the number of medical doctor candidates since becoming the head of MSM in 2014. As part of the Accelerate Precision Health initiative, which aims to enhance precision medicine for all individuals, especially those from marginalized communities, MSM became a partner in 2022.
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice grew up in a very disorderly home. On one occasion, her father smashed a pistol through the glass of their Macon, Georgia, house and assaulted her mother. She also had a tough time at school. A racist educator in second grade dismissed her academic efforts as pointless. However, “All things are possible,” Montgomery Rice’s mother had informed her. Nothing is off-limits.
The OB/GYN with a Harvard education is also an internationally acclaimed researcher; she has devoted her career to studying infertility and eliminating maternal death rates among Black women. Prior to her time at MSM, Montgomery Rice was dean of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, where she established and oversaw a pioneering program dedicated to researching issues that disproportionately affect women of color.