Deborah Prothrow-Stith, the fourteenth dean of the College of Medicine and founding dean of the MD program at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) in California, has announced her retirement.
Dr. Prothrow-Stith was recruited to CDU in 2016 with two key responsibilities: restart residency training in South Los Angeles and establish the HBCU’s own independent medical school. She met both those expectations. CDU now hosts four residency programs and two fellowships, and is slated to award its first full MD degrees in 2027. Under Dr. Prothrow-Stith’s leadership throughout the past decade, the HBCU also opened its Health Professions Education Building, established numerous new clinical partnerships, received significant philanthropic investments, expanded student support services and scholarship opportunities, and developed new academic courses.
“As I retire, I do so with profound gratitude,” said Dr. Prothrow-Stith in a statement to the university community. “These 10 years have been among the most meaningful of my professional life, and I want to thank each of you for the wisdom, partnership, generosity, and steadfast commitment that made our shared mission and accomplishments possible.”
Before joining CDU, Dr. Prothrow-Stith was the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Public Health Practice and associate dean for diversity at the Harvard School of Public Health. She earned her bachelor’s degree from historically Black Spelman College in Atlanta and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School.
