Recognized for innovative initiatives designed to increase diversity in science and health

Meredith Bond has long had a passion for expanding opportunities for minorities and underrepresented groups in the sciences and health care professions, a passion that was cultivated by her mentor Dr. Donald E. Wilson, long-time dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the first African American dean of a non-minority medical school in the United States. During his tenure at Maryland, minority student enrollment increased and minority faculty nearly quadrupled.

As dean of the College of Sciences and Health Professions at Cleveland State University, Dr. Bond has placed a significant focus on encouraging the success of innovative mentoring programs and peer networks that can assist in increasing the number of minority and underrepresented populations in science and health care fields. The success of these efforts has led to Dr. Bond’s selection as the 2016 winner of the Excellence in Mentoring Award, presented by the Association for Academic Minority Physicians and the National Research Mentoring Network. Dr. Wilson, past President of the AAMP, presented Dr. Bond with the award at the 30th Annual Meeting of the AAMP earlier this month.

“Both by example and through his own efforts to expand diversity in medicine, Dr. Wilson highlighted for me the tremendous importance of providing equality of opportunity for all people and the central role education can play in that effort,” Dr. Bond says. “I am extremely honored to receive this award from the AAMP on behalf of the College of Sciences and Health Professions and am pleased that this award highlights the fact that support and mentorship are necessary to assist all students in being successful.”

During her tenure at CSU, Dr. Bond has enthusiastically supported numerous programs designed to enhance mentoring and outreach for minorities, underserved populations and first generation college students. These include: the TRIO McNair program, which supports first generation college students entering scientific professions; Operation STEM, an NSF-funded initiative designed to assist at-risk students in completing introductory mathematics courses; and the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health, which recruits and trains a more diverse health care workforce to provide primary care in medically-underserved urban communities.

“I am very pleased with the success we have had at CSU in building nationally recognized mentoring initiatives, but without a doubt, it requires a team effort.” Dr. Bond adds, “I would like to thank the College’s faculty, staff, and most importantly our students, for the dedication, enthusiasm and support they have brought to these programs. These individuals are truly the reasons the programs have worked so wel

Dr. Bond has served as dean of the College of Sciences and Health Professions since 2011 and was previously professor and chair of the Department of Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Prior to that, she spent 16 years as a heart researcher with the Cleveland Clinic, conducting groundbreaking work on the molecular basis of the regulation of contractility in the heart.

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