Leading While Black: Vivian Pinn Exhibit

A new exhibit on the 4th floor of the Medical Education building outside the Office of Student Affairs highlights the career of Dr. Vivian W. Pinn. The exhibit is part of the Leading While Black Project that celebrates influential Black leaders at Tufts University over the past 50 years. The project features eight luminaries who transformed governance, advanced equity, traversed boundaries and enhanced the lives of students, faculty and staff throughout the university.

Dr. Vivian Pinn served as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs at the medical school from 1974-1982 as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology. In addition to expanding admission for Black students, women and other underrepresented in medicine students, Dr. Pinn was instrumental in making sure that students of all backgrounds flourished during their time at Tufts. Dr. Pinn’s own background and career are extraordinary. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1958 and went on to become the only woman and the only Black student in her medical school class at the University of Virginia. After training at MGH in Pathology she went on to have a storied academic career, culminating in becoming the first director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the NIH where she was a national figure for over 20 years and where she forged connections between advocacy, public health and research. When Dr. Pinn retired from the NIH, a tribute was published in the Congressional Record commending her contributions during her NIH tenure and the Association of American Medical Colleges awarded her a Special Recognition Award for exceptional leadership over a forty-year career. Dr. Pinn also served in leadership roles too numerous to mention here and she continues to be a loyal and trusted advisor to the medical school and university. 

Please make sure to stop by the display on the 4th floor of the Medical Education Building outside the Office of Student Affairs. For those interested in learning more about the project, please check out the Leading While Black website at lwb.tufts.edu.