Meharry Medical College President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Wayne J. Riley has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies’ class of 2012, Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, IOM president, announced this morning during the organization’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Riley (pictured) was selected for his contributions to the fields of medicine, medical sciences and health care.

“To be recognized by one of the nation’s foremost medical institutions, alongside the world’s most innovative and influential minds in the field of medicine, is both humbling and inspiring,” Riley said in a release. “This distinction reaffirms my commitment to medical science, to teaching future leaders in health care and to positively impacting the well being of others. I am profoundly grateful to the IOM for this honor.”

Founded in 1970, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, which was established by an act of Congress and chartered by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Each year, approximately 70 members are elected from the United States and foreign countries for inclusion in the IOM National Academies class.