Dr. Luanne Thorndyke, affiliate professor of medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, is an independent coach/consultant with 25 years of medical school leadership experience at three academic health sciences institutions. A nationally known leader with over 20 years of leadership experience as a top medical university administrator in academic/faculty affairs, Thorndyke now focuses her work on organizational consulting and executive coaching to drive transformational change and performance improvement and provide critical challenge and support to leaders in academic medicine. She completed Brown University’s Leadership and Performance Coaching Program, achieved formal certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), with additional credentials through ACT’s Deeper Level Coaching Course.  Areas of expertise include leadership skills development, policy and programmatic development, professional growth, and strategic planning to achieve organizational strategic goals. She has proven skills in academic advancement (promotion and tenure), conflict management, and negotiation. As a scholar in faculty development and mentoring, she has garnered competitive external grant awards, authored scholarly publications, and has mentored/coached faculty, department chairs, and leaders both at the institutional and national level.

Thorndyke most recently served as Executive Vice Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She also served for a decade as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the 3-school health sciences campus of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, following 8 years as Associate Dean for Professional Development and Continuing Medical Education at the Penn State College of Medicine.

Dr. Thorndyke is a board-certified internal medicine physician, with additional qualifications in women’s health and geriatrics. As a physician-entrepreneur-executive, she established and led both community-based and academic primary care practices that integrated clinical care with education of students and residents, while addressing health disparities at the local level. She has received multiple awards for her leadership and mentoring/coaching, including the Carole J. Bland Phronesis Award from the AAMC/GFA. She is a highly sought-after speaker particularly on topics of leadership skills development, negotiation, conflict management, and career planning.