Deborah Prothrow-Stith
Dean, College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Deborah Prothrow-Stith is an internist and public health leader who serves as dean of the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, where she was the founding dean of the university's independent MD degree program that enrolled its first class in July 2023. In 1987 she became the first woman and first African American woman to serve as Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts, and the youngest person in the role. She is widely credited with framing youth violence as a public health problem, and her Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents is used in schools nationwide.
Notable Achievements
- First African American woman and first woman to serve as Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts (1987)
- Established the nation's first Violence Prevention Office at a state health department
- Authored the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents, used in schools in all fifty states
- Founding dean of the Charles R. Drew University MD degree program, the fourth at a historically Black university, which enrolled its first class in 2023
- Grew the CDU College of Medicine faculty from about 100 to more than 350 across nine departments
- Elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2003
- Recipient of ten honorary doctorates
Expertise & Topics
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