President: Patrick T. O’Gara MD, FACC
O’Gara is the director of clinical cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. His clinical activities are focused on patients with valvular heart disease, aortic disease, complex coronary artery disease and other structural heart diseases. Since 2001, he has been named annually among the Top Doctors in Boston and the U.S. O’Gara is the past co-chair of the ACC’s 2012 Scientific Session program committee and has co-directed the ACC Board Review Course for Certification and Recertification for the past decade. He served as chair of the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) Council on Clinical Cardiology from 2003-2005 and as editor of Heart Insight magazine from 2006 to 2011. In 2011, he received the Paul Dudley White Award from the Boston Division of the AHA Founder’s Affiliate and the Laennec Master Clinician Award. In 2012, he was honored with the Laennec Clinician Educator Award. O’Gara was chair of the writing committee for the 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction and has participated in several other guideline, expert consensus, scientific advisory and appropriate use criteria writing groups. Additionally, he is steering committee co-chair of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Network.

President-Elect: Kim Allan Williams, Sr. MD, FACC
Williams received his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, followed by medical school at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency at Emory University, and overlapping fellowships in cardiology, clinical pharmacology, and nuclear medicine at the University of Chicago. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, nuclear medicine, nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular computed tomography. Williams joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1986. He served as professor of medicine and radiology and director of nuclear cardiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine until 2010, when he became the Dorothy Susan Timmis Endowed Professor and chair of the division of cardiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. In 2013, Williams assumed the position of James B. Herrick Professor and chief of the division of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL.

Vice President: Richard A. Chazal MD, FACC
After graduating from the University of Florida and the University of South Florida Medical School, Chazal returned to Florida after training in cardiovascular disease at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at Indiana University. He continues to practice clinical cardiology in Fort Myers, FL. In 2010, Chazal’s single-specialty group joined Lee Memorial Health System, where he now serves as the medical director of the Heart and Vascular Institute. Within the ACC, Chazal has served in numerous leadership positions, including committee positions, treasurer and as governor of the Florida Chapter. He is currently the vice chair of the Strategic Plan Task Force.

Secretary and Board of Governors Chair: Michael Mansour, MD, FACC
Mansour is a graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi Medical School, and completed his internal medicine residency at the Ochsner Foundation Hospital. He has served as chief fellow in cardiology at the University of Florida School of Medicine and interventional fellow in cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He later served as assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida, followed by clinical assistant professor of medicine at Emory University. Currently, he acts as an affiliate faculty in the department of medicine, University of Mississippi Medical School. His current research interest includes health care disparities, and he has worked to address disparities and improve outcomes in underserved and minority populations through his current practice, the ACC’s credo initiative, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s study on health care disparities and its program: Expecting Success, and has organized community and statewide programs. Mansour’s previous research interests have been in interventional cardiology and endothelial function. He holds board certifications in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, interventional cardiology, nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular computed tomography. Currently, Mansour is an officer and member of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi State Medical Association. In addition, he is president of the Mississippi Chapter of the ACC, as well as chair of the ACC Board of Governors and a member ACC Board of Trustees.

Paul N. Casale MD, FACC
Casale graduated from Cornell University Medical College prior to completing an internship and residency in internal medicine at The New York Hospital through the Cornell University Medical Center. Following residency, he completed a clinical and a research fellowship in Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Currently, he is an interventional cardiologist and chief of the Division of Cardiology at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, PA and serves as medical director of quality for Lancaster General Health. He is active in clinical research and medical education and is a clinical professor of medicine at Temple University School of Medicine. Additionally, Casale is chair of the ACC Partners in Quality Committee and the PINNACLE Registry Steering Committee.

Robert C. Hendel MD, FACC
Hendel received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biological sciences and education from Northwestern University before receiving his medical degree, with distinction, from George Washington University School of Medicine. He is currently the associate chief of clinical cardiology, director of cardiac imaging and professor of medicine and radiology at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Additionally, he currently serves as the chief for cardiovascular service and director of the cardiac care unit at the University of Miami Hospital. Hendel’s areas of research have included angiogenesis, attenuation-corrected SPECT imaging, patient risk stratification, and pharmacologic stress testing, and quality/appropriateness in cardiac imaging.

Jane W. Newburger MD, MPH, FACC
Newburger received a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in 1971, a doctor of medicine degree alpha omega alpha from the Harvard Medical School in 1974 and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1980. She trained in pediatrics, followed by cardiology, at Boston Children’s Hospital. Newburger joined the Department of Cardiology in 1979 as an instructor in pediatrics and is currently the commonwealth professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and associate cardiologist-in-chief for academic affairs at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her research has focused on prospective clinical studies, including multi-disciplinary prospective randomized trails and prospective cohort studies. She has made seminal contributions to both evaluation and therapy of Kawasaki disease and neurodevelopmental outcomes after pediatric cardiac surgery. She maintains an active practice comprised of patients with congenital and acquired heart disease.

Thad F. Waites MD, FACC
Waites graduated from the University of Mississippi Medical School followed by an internship at Emory University, Grady Hospital. After completing active duty as a flight surgeon with the U.S. Navy Reserve, Waites then completed his internal medical residency at University of Colorado. Currently, Waites practices clinical cardiology with an emphasis on interventional cardiology at Hattiesburg Clinic in in Hattiesburg, MS, where he has served two terms as president of the Medical Staff, and has acted as vice president. He is also currently director of the cath lab at Forrest General Hospital. Waites’ clinical research interest is currently in the field of CT Imaging. He is a past-chair of the ACC Board of Governors.

Debra L. Ness MS | Public Member Trustee
Ness graduated summa cum laude from Drew University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, and completed her graduate work in social welfare and public health policy before receiving a Master of Science from Columbia University School of Social Work. Ness has been a strong advocate for fairness and social justice for more than three decades. Before assuming her current role as president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, she served as executive vice president for 13 years. Ness has played a leading role in positioning the Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization as a powerful and effective advocate for today’s women and families.