Carol A. Cunningham, M.D.

Awarded: 2025
Born: Cleveland, OH

"A day without music is like a year without sunshine!" 

---

Carol A. Cunningham, M.D. is the state medical director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Medical Services, a professor of Emergency Medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University and a board-certified emergency physician at Cleveland Clinic Akron General. She was selected as Harvard University’s 2021 National Preparedness Leadership Initiative Meta-Leader of the Year. She earned the Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School and completed the Executive Leaders Program at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. She has been honored with multiple awards for her leadership in medicine, education and community service.

On her “flip side,” Cunningham is a lifelong afficionado of jazz, a love fostered by her father, a graduate of Tri-C. He fully understood the value of doing one’s “homework” at the Boarding House, Nighttown, the original Peabody’s and the Front Row Theater. At the inception of the Tri-C JazzFest, she was ecstatic to launch her ongoing support of this Cleveland-based initiative and treat her parents to the show in the campus auditorium, featuring Take 6 and Stanley Clarke. Performing since age 4, she embraced a multitude of genres, playing in bands and orchestras to pay for school and maintain life balance in the face of demanding professional duties. In support of music education, Cunningham serves on the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Advisory Committee of Tri-C JazzFest. Honoring those who contributed to her love of the arts, she has worked tirelessly to carve pathways through philanthropy and advocacy to ensure every child has access to music and inspirational creativity. Cunningham firmly believes that music, also known as Vitamin M, is an essential nutrient for the mind, body and soul.