The Florida Board of Medicine is pleased to announce the election of Zachariah P. Zachariah, M.D. as the 2013 Chairman of the Board. Dr. Zachariah has been in Private Practice of Clinical and Interventional Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, since 1976 and is the president of the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute, serves as the Section Chief of Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital, and is currently a Voluntary Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
Dr. Zachariah has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Nova Southeastern University since 1993; Treasurer and Member of the Board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education; a member and former President of the Florida Council on Economic Education, a not-for-profit organization that educates students in kindergarten through high school on economic principles to better prepare them for personal and professional success in our free enterprise system; and he is a member of The Florida Council of 100, a statewide organization of business leaders who advise the Governor on issues of public policy.
Previously, Dr. Zachariah served on the Florida Board of Medicine from 1988 to 1992 and again from 1998 and 2002. He served as Chairman of the Board of Medicine from 1990-1992 and from 2001 -2002. From 2003 – 2010, he served on the Florida Board of Governors which oversees all public universities in the State of Florida; and was Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Obesity Epidemic in 2003. He has also served as the President of the American Heart Association – Florida Affiliate and as a Member of the Board of Governors for the Florida Medical Association.
Dr. Zachariah has also served as a member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health from 1990 – 1993, under President George H.W. Bush, and as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders in 2001 – 2005 under President George W. Bush. He also served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of HHS at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2002.
He has received numerous awards for his humanitarian work, community service, advocacy on behalf of children and his leadership in public health. He was awarded the “Ellis Island Medal of Honor” in 1988; the “Ellis Island American Legends Award” from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundations, Inc.; in 2000 the “George Washington Honor Medal” from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; and the “Torch of Liberty Award” from the American Jewish Congress. Three Florida Governors, have proclaimed a “Zachariah P. Zachariah Day” in the State of Florida.
Dr. Zachariah graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College in Poona, India; completed a residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, and had a Fellowship in Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. He has performed in excess of 25,000 heart procedures since he started his career at Holy Cross Hospital.
Joining Dr. Zachariah in the Board’s leadership for 2013 is James W. Orr, Jr., M.D., who will serve as the Vice-Chairman. Dr. Orr graduated with a B.A. in psychology from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, and continued on there to receive his medical degree. His internship, residency, and fellowship were all completed at the University of Alabama. Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr. Orr currently practices in Ft. Myers, FL, while also holding a medical license in the State of Alabama.
Dr. Orr’s professional affiliations include the American Medical Association, the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology, the Florida Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the Florida Society of Obstetrics & Gynecology, the Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. From 2006 to 2010, he was named one of Americas Top Oncologists by the Consumer’s Research Council. He’s been published in several medical publications and journals, including Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology, Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Women’s Oncology Review.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah and Dr. James W. Orr, Jr. on their new positions of leadership for 2013.
