American Board of Forensic Medicine

Announcing

The American College of Forensic Examiners Institute has been blessed to have two former Board Chairs who were the utmost models of science, integrity, and justice. With the recent passing of our Board Chair, Dr. David Ely Rosengard, we have looked for someone to fill the position to continue Dr. Rosengard’s exemplary loyalty and leadership. We are proud to announce Dr. Cyril H. Wecht of Pennsylvania as the new Chair of ACFEI. Dr. Wecht will be filling the position of Chair of the Executive Advisory Board and Chair of the American Board of Forensic Medicine.

Dr. Wecht was first announced as Chair at the 2009 ACFEI National Conference in Las Vegas, NV, on October 15, 2009.

Dr. Wecht is a Life Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Medicine and the American Board of Forensic Examiners. He is a Certified Medical Investigator, Level Five, and is a former instructor of this program. He is also a Certified Forensic Physician and recently authored the exam for the CFP program. He has been a dedicated member since 2002.

Cyril H. Wecht received his M.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathology. He is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and the National Association of Medical Examiners. Dr. Wecht is a Charter Diplomate of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and has served as Vice Chairman of that Board. He is also a Charter Diplomate of the American Board of Legal Medicine and has served as Chairman of that Board.

Dr. Wecht was formerly the Chairman of the Department of Pathology and President of the Medical Staff at St. Francis Central Hospital in Pittsburgh. He is actively involved as a medical-legal and forensic science consultant, author, and lecturer. He served as the elected Coroner of Allegheny County for a total of 20 years.

Dr. Wecht is a Clinical Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health; an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University School of Law, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences; Distinguished Professor of Anatomy and Pathology at Carlow University; Professor of Law at Aristotle University School of Law; and chairman of the Advisory Board of the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law at Duquesne University School of Law. He has served as President of the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and also as Chairman of both the Board of Trustees of the American Board of Legal Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation.

Dr. Wecht is the author or co-author of 530 professional publications; an editorial board member of 16 national and international medical-legal and forensic scientific publications; an editor or co-editor of 44 books, including a five-volume set Forensic Sciences (Matthew Bender), and two 3-volume sets—Handling Soft Tissue Injury Cases and Preparing and Winning Medical-Negligence Cases.

Dr. Wecht has organized and conducted Postgradutate Medical-Legal Seminars in more than 50 countries throughout the world in his capacity as Director of the Pittsburgh Institute of Legal Medicine. He has personally performed approximately 16,000 autopsies, and has supervised, reviewed, or been consulted on approximately 36,000 additional several post-mortem examinations, including several cases in foreign countries.

Dr. Wecht has testified in more than 1,000 civil, criminal, and workers compensation cases in state and federal courts in more than 30 states. He has also conducted post-mortem examinations and has testified in several foreign countries.

Dr. Wecht has appeared as a frequent guest on numerous national TV and radio shows, discussing various medicolegal and forensic scientific subjects, including medical malpractice; alcohol and drug abuse; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Reverend Martin Luther King; the death of Elvis Presley; the San Sheppard case; the O.J. Simpson case; the JonBenét Ramsey case; the Diallo case, the Chandra Levy death investigation; Jayson Williams; and the Laci Peterson homicide. These cases as well as those involving Mary Jo Kipechne, Sunny von Bulow, Jean Harris, Dr. Jeffery McDonald, the Waco Branch Davidian fire, Vincent Foster, O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Anna Nicole Smith, Daniel Smith, and many others are discussed from the perspective of Dr. Wecht’s personal professional involvement in his books, Cause of Death, Grave Secrets, Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?, Mortal Evidence, Tales from the Morgue, and A Question of Murder.

Dr. Wecht has received numerous awards and honors from various professional, community, and governmental organizations, including the County Detectives Association of Pennsylvania, the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of Pennsylvania, Vectors, the New York Society of Forensic Sciences, the American College of Legal Medicine, National Junior Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion, and the Pittsburgh Shriners.

He has been invited as a Distinguished Professor to lecture in several foreign countries and is an Honorary Life Member of the National Academies of Legal Medicine of France, Spain, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Mexico, Columbia, and Brazil.

Dr. Wecht has lectured at numerous law, medical, and other graduate schools; at many colleges and universities; and numerous professional organizations and governmental agencies, including Harvard Law School, Yale Medical School, the FBI Academy, and the Medical Division of the CIA.

The American College of Forensic Examiners is pleased to have an esteemed professional such as Dr. Wecht lead our association into the new decade of forensic science. In the wake of the National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science, Dr. Wecht is exactly the leader needed to help ACFEI respond to the imminent changes in the field. We welcome Dr. Wecht and look forward to an exciting future for ACFEI!