Marla J. Gold, MD, the dean of the School of Public Health, was recently elected to serve as the chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health’s Diversity Committee and a de facto member of the Board of Directors for the academic public health’s national organization.
As chairperson, Dean Gold will have the opportunity to help shape the approach of academic public health on the issue of diversity and cultural competency.
The charge of the diversity committee is to develop strategies that address issues relating to minority faculty, minority students, the minority health professions workforce, and minority public health, at-large. The committee also identifies and promotes minority public health educational initiatives. Among the topics the committee addresses are faculty and student recruitment, development, and retention; curriculum development; multicultural educational policies and initiatives; minority-focused research; and increasing underrepresented minorities in public health.