January 6, 2026
On Dec. 5, 2025, NCAFP member Dr. Warren Newton received the 2025 NCAFP Distinguished Family Physician of the Year Award. This annual award recognizes NC family physicians who demonstrate leadership, ingenuity, and commitment to Family Medicine. Dr. Newton earned the award for his unparalleled service to the specialty in North Carolina and far beyond.
“It is clear that this year’s winner likes a challenge, and no one can ever accuse him of not working hard,” Immediate Past President Dr. Mark McNeill said while announcing the award during the 2025 Winter Family Physicians Weekend. “Those who have ever worked with him have received a middle-of-the-night email or had a very early morning conference call or meeting.”
When he received the award, Dr. Newton expressed gratitude to his peers and mentors in the NCAFP. “I have learned so much from all of you,” Dr. Newton said. “This is home. It’s good to come home.”
After completing his undergraduate degree at Yale and medical school at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in 1984, Dr. Newton arrived in North Carolina after enrolling at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Family Medicine Residency. There, he rose through the ranks after completing residency in 1987: Dr Newton served as Residency Program Director, Department Chair, and Chief Academic Officer. But his service around North Carolina reached beyond UNC: Dr. Newton later worked as Executive Director at the NC Area Health Education Center and as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services. Along the way, Dr. Newton advanced his own learning by completing the Robert Wood Johnsons Clinical Scholars Program and earning his MPH at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. His constant scholarship helped him produce the 180+ peer-reviewed publications that he has authored and co-authored in his career.
Since 2019, Dr. Newton has occupied a crucial national role: President and CEO of the American Board of Family Medicine. Through this work, he has led major redesigns of every aspect of the certification portfolio which family physicians rely on, including the Family Medicine Certification Longitudinal Assessment, a new National Journal Club, knowledge self-assessments, performance improvement activities, and a major revision of the Board’s Professionalism Guideline.
However (and wherever) Dr. Newton worked to advance Family Medicine and equip family physicians, he remained involved in the NCAFP. He has become a familiar leader in most NCAFP events and, together with his wife, a consistent supporter of future family physicians through the NCAFP Foundation.
“[He] is certainly multi-dimensional, having impacted the specialty of Family Medicine well beyond our own state lines,” Dr. McNeill said of Dr. Newton. “[He] has led practice transformation efforts at the state, regional and national levels and has also had tremendous influence on both undergraduate and graduate medical education.”
Congratulations to Dr. Newton! The NCAFP thanks him for his leadership, service, and commitment to improving Family Medicine.
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. (NCAFP) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Raleigh which represents over 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across the state. It is the largest medical specialty association in North Carolina and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leadwood, KS.
