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King to deliver annual Levi Watkins Jr. Lecture

Talmadge E. King Jr. (photo courtesy of University of California-San Francisco)

The 12th annual Levi Watkins Jr. Lecture is scheduled for noon on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in Light Hall, Room 208.

Talmadge E. King Jr., the Julius R. Krevans Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, is the invited speaker.

The title of King’s talk is “A Career in Academic Medicine: A Personal Journey.”

The lecture honors prominent cardiac surgeon Levi Watkins Jr., who has made significant contributions toward increasing opportunities for underrepresented minorities in the sciences. A distinguished physician and researcher, in 1966 Watkins became the first African American student to be admitted to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He graduated in 1970 and continued his training at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities.

Watkins is currently a professor of cardiac surgery and dean of postdoctoral programs at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as well as a member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.

Nominations for the Levi Watkins Jr. Student Award and the Levi Watkins Jr. Faculty Award also are being accepted through Sept. 24.

Please send letters of nomination for either award to André L. Churchwell, associate dean for diversity at VUSM, to arrive no later than Sept. 24. The awards will be presented during the Levi Watkins Jr. Lecture.

Contact: Ella Butler, (615) 322-7498
ella.butler@vanderbilt.edu