Nominations open for Levi Watkins Jr. Faculty and Student Awards; deadline is Sept. 27
The awards will be presented at the 18th Annual Levi Watkins Jr., M.D. Lecture, which will take place at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in 208 Light Hall. Isla P. Garraway, MD, PhD, associate professor and director of research in the Department of Urology, and a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will be this year's speaker. The lecture and awards are sponsored by the School of Medicine’s Office for Diversity Affairs.
Levi Watkins Jr. Faculty Award
This award is presented annually to at least one member of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty or administration who has made outstanding contributions to the institution in fostering opportunities for underrepresented minorities in educational and/or research programs.
The award also recognizes individuals who have contributed to increasing diversity at the medical school. Please send letters of nomination to Lashonda Moore, Office for Diversity Affairs, no later than Sept. 27.
Levi Watkins Jr. Student Award
This award is presented annually to at least one graduate student and one medical student associated with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who have made outstanding contributions to the institution in fostering a more diverse environment that is enriching, encouraging and embracing to all Vanderbilt medical school students, faculty and administration.
Please send letters of nomination to Lashonda Moore, Office for Diversity Affairs, no later than Sept. 27.
About Levi Watkins Jr.
Levi Watkins Jr., MD, made significant contributions toward increasing opportunities for underrepresented minorities in the sciences. A distinguished physician and researcher, in 1966 he became the first African American student to be admitted to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He graduated in 1970 and was selected a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. He continued his training at Johns Hopkins and Harvard. Watkins embodied the attributes important for those who pursue careers in medicine and the biomedical sciences. At the time of his death in 2015, he had retired just two years earlier from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was a renowned professor of cardiac surgery.