Dr. Donald E. Wilson. (Courtesy Photo)
Dr. Donald E. Wilson, the renowned Professor and Dean Emeritus at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine will be honored with the American College of Physician’s (ACP) 2015 W. Lester Henry Award.
With a prominent medical career spanning over 30 years, Wilson will be recognized for his outstanding leadership and distinguished
service to medical education at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting in Boston on April 30.
A pioneer within his community, Wilson became the first African-American dean of a non-minority school. He was the first African-American to serve as chairman of the Maryland Health Care Commission, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the AAMC Council of Deans.
During his tenure at the School of Medicine, Wilson played a key role in increasing student body diversity and tripling the number of full-time minority facilities. He successfully increased the school’s grant and contract awards from $77 million to $350 million, and he worked to increase the school’s philanthropic support from $ 1.7 million to $37 million- the result of which aided the construction of two biomedical research buildings.
In 2014, Wilson became Howard University’s Senior Vice President for Health and Sciences and has since spearheaded efforts to transform the historic Howard University Hospital. He is currently working towards increasing the school’s research funding for HIV/AID and Schizophrenia.