AMA executive moves on for "second career"

AMA Chief Operating Officer Lynn E. Jensen, PhD, will leave the Association this month following a 26-year career.

By Bonnie Booth, amednews staff. June 5, 2000.

Chicago -- AMA Chief Operating Officer Lynn E. Jensen, PhD, will leave the Association this month following a 26-year career, during which he found himself heading the organization at one of the most tumultuous times in its history.

Dr. Jensen joined the AMA as a research economist in 1974. However, over the years his responsibilities encompassed health policy, strategic planning, information technology, foundation and external relations, membership and business and publications. He also served as interim chief executive officer of the organization in the months following the Association's ill-fated involvement with Sunbeam Products Inc.

He said he found that opportunity to work so closely with the physicians at the top of the AMA exhilarating. AMA President Thomas R. Reardon, MD, who was chair of the board at that time, praised Dr. Jensen's efforts.

"Lynn has been a force of stability and an agent for change all at the same time," said Dr. Reardon.

Dr. Jensen said a variety of factors seemed to come together to make this an ideal time for his departure.

"If I'm going to have a second career opportunity, it is time to leave," he said. "I also wanted to regain some balance in my life after the demands of the past five years. And, as the organization keeps rebuilding, it is a good time for both the organization and me to make a change."

Dr. Jensen will join Phase 2 Consulting, a health care consulting group based in Salt Lake City, later this year.

"Twenty-five years may sound like a long time, but the time has gone so quickly," Dr. Jensen said. "I've faced a large number of challenges and each has been quite different from the other."