A message from our Associate Vice Chancellor

Shortly after joining the University of Pittsburgh, I attended the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) annual conference, during which NADOHE’s president, Paulette Granberry Russell, emphasized the importance of spelling out “diversity, equity, and inclusion” when describing the work I am so fortunate to do, instead of using the shorthand “DEI.”

I agree: diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals should articulate our work’s core tenets to emphasize their importance. My role, our office, and our six schools’ commitments revolve around three concepts with profound meaning for the health sciences. Diversity: we celebrate and benefit from the differences among our community members. Equity: we seek to offer everyone the support needed to achieve their highest form of success, and we compensate them appropriately for their work. And inclusion: we facilitate the full engagement and advancement of persons from all backgrounds, at all levels, and in all settings throughout our community.

In United States universities, diversity, equity, and inclusion are hard won via shared, sustained effort. I must acknowledge the committed leadership of Chancellor Joan Gabel and Senior Vice Chancellor of the Health Sciences Anantha Shekhar, both of whom are steadfast in their support for our efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the health sciences.

I thank Dr. Shekhar especially for his continued commitment to the Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health, and Well-Being Cluster Hire Initiative, which has facilitated a tremendous influx of scholars and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. Through their work, these nearly 90 faculty members have augmented Pitt Health Sciences’ understanding of and effective response to the impacts of race, racism, and other social determinants of health, to make health care more equitable.

Furthermore, I am grateful for the foundation laid by my predecessor, Dr. Paula K. Davis, in her steadfast leadership of OHSDEI and her many impactful contributions to Pitt Health Sciences.

Although our work is supported and acknowledged at Pitt, I would be remiss not to mention that higher-education diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have been increasingly under attack throughout the United States, in both political rhetoric and legislation, by people who falsely label those important efforts as divisive or even hateful.

We must continuously counter these harmful narratives.

At Pitt, we’re working to demonstrate that when we advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the health sciences, everyone wins; everyone can progress; and everyone is better equipped to promote individual and community well-being.

I look forward to continuing to lead our efforts to ensure that here, individuals from all backgrounds are celebrated,

Our History

In 2003, the U.S. federal government’s Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce drew national attention to the underrepresentation of African American, Hispanic, and Native American populations among healthcare professionals in the United States. In response, the University of Pittsburgh formed the Sullivan Commission Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Diversity within the Schools of the Health Sciences to identify barriers prohibiting the successful inclusion of underrepresented students and faculty in our health sciences schools. As a result of its findings, the task force published The Urgency of Now: Recruiting and Retaining Racially and Ethnically Diverse Professionals in the Health Professions at the University of Pittsburgh. The report recommended the creation of an office that would implement strategic steps for increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in our schools.

In October 2007, the Office of Health Sciences Diversity (now the Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) was established to assess and build pathways to health-professions education; connect students and faculty with mentors and opportunities; help the health sciences schools secure funding for relevant initiatives; and continually measure and increase success in diversity and inclusion for all members of Pitt’s health sciences schools.

Since then, the office has created and collaborated in a wide variety of programming, from the early Physician Diversity Quality Improvement Process to the Social Justice Fellowship program and beyond. In 2020, we—in partnership with the Office of the Provost—were tasked by Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences Anantha Shekhar to administer the Race and Social Determinants of Health, Equity and Well-Being Cluster Hire and Retention Initiative, which has since brought to Pitt over 80 premiere researchers and clinicians undertaking groundbreaking work addressing the impact of race-based inequities and other social determinants of health.

In contrast with other higher education institutions, the University of Pittsburgh has continued to rededicate itself to the important and ongoing work of increasing diversity, equity and inclusion for the benefit of all of its community members, including in the strategic Plan for Pitt 2028.