Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Search Committee Nominations

As humans, we would all like to believe we are “doing the right thing” and living a morally sound life. Sometimes, though, “doing the right thing” requires more than just making sound autonomous decisions for oneself- it requires a deliberate, collective strategy.

Take for example, the passage of Title IX into law. This momentous event took place on June 23, 1972. However, 46 years later, gender inequities are still tangible, in spite of laws that prohibit the exclusion of women from any federally funded education activity or program. Similarly, despite laws prohibiting racism in hiring and admissions, we live in a world where opportunity is distributed unequally. We must be intentional in how we transform the system that still, unintentionally in most cases, limits the inclusion of multiple perspectives here at our Medical School.

To speed up and facilitate the process of creating a more diverse and inclusive group of doctors and scientists to serve our communities, our next step is to launch a national search for an inaugural Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion will report directly to me and serve on the Dean’s Cabinet. The Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion will work across all Medical School departments, centers and units in collaboration with community partners and health system leadership to promote and advance innovative ideas, programs and initiatives to strengthen and advance the Medical School and the University’s equity, diversity and inclusion goals. 

To ensure we are finding the best candidates, we need your nominations of faculty, staff, students and community members to serve on the search committee. This committee will be tasked with ensuring a robust search process that will result in an outstanding pool of candidates. I encourage you to either self-nominate or nominate a peer. Please submit your nomination by July 10.

This committee will be co-chaired by Michael Goh, Vice President for Equity and Diversity, and Anne Joseph, Wexler Professor of Medicine. We will announce the search committee members mid-July. Working together, we will make systematic decisions to who we invite to our community here at the Medical School. Thank you in advance for your help with this critical mission.