American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release Nov 23, 2010

For Immediate Release

LEAWOOD, Kan. - Jim Griffith, MBA, CAE, has been selected to serve as Executive Director of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), effective in January 2011.

Griffith will be charged with providing execution and implementation of all AMSSM programs and activities and will provide day-to-day leadership and management of the organization’s business operations and represent the Society to internal and external audiences.

Fran O’Connor MD, AMSSM President commented, “Hiring an Executive director is a byproduct of a strategic planning process that began two years ago.  I am extremely pleased at the execution of our planning process, and even more excited about the talent we have identified and acquired with the hiring of Jim Griffith.  I have every confidence he will lead our young organization to greater heights.”

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Jim working with us,” said Immediate Past President Kimberly Harmon, MD, who chaired the search committee. “I sincerely believe that Jim Griffith will provide the guidance, dedication, understanding and knowledge to help AMSSM fulfill its strategic goals while preserving all those things that make AMSSM so special.”

Griffith has more than 16 years' experience in association management, having served the past three years as a strategist with the American Academy of Family Physicians and for 10 years prior to that as the Executive Director of FarmHouse Fraternity’s International Headquarters.

“This opportunity to work with such a passionate group of physicians who care so deeply about their work will be invigorating,” said Griffith, who is also a past sports journalist with four different newspapers. “I look forward to helping AMSSM increase its visibility as a Society, grow the organization and advocate for policies that will advance the field of sports medicine.”

At AAFP, Griffith has worked with the CEOs and professional staffs of its 55 Chapters. In this role, he has helped Chapters strengthen their communications and advocacy efforts by helping them build strategic communication plans, assist with their efforts to advance the patient-centered medical home and provide more streamlined communications between AAFP and its Chapters.

During his tenure at FarmHouse (1997-2007), the organization’s overall net assets increased by more than sixfold, convention attendance rose by more than 50 percent; and he led all efforts for the organization’s 100th Anniversary Celebration that drew 30 percent more attendees than any past event on record.

Griffith is a past president of the Kansas City Society of Association Executives, past president of the Fraternity Communicators Association and has served on four other non-profit Boards. He’s also served in multiple leadership positions with his church and will serve as Lay Leader in 2011. He received the KCSAE Professional Excellence Award this fall for his contributions to the field of association management.

Griffith holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri (1994), an MBA from Baker University (2003) and earned the Certified Association Executive designation in 2005. Jim and his wife, Barbara, have two children. They live in Liberty, Mo.

The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) was organized in 1991 by physicians who recognized the need for an organization within the field of sports medicine that approached athletes, exercising individuals and teams comprehensively with consultative and continuous care of their orthopedic, medical, nutritional and psychosocial issues. Although sports medicine concepts are often thought of in conjunction with professional and elite athletes, these concepts apply to athletes of all levels including grade school, high school, college and recreational athletes. AMSSM is comprised of over 1700 Sports Medicine Physicians whose goal is to provide a link between the rapidly expanding core of knowledge related to sports medicine and its application to patients in a clinical setting.