David Gordon, dean of the University of Akron College of Health Professions, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in conjunction with the 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Series at Vanderbilt. Gordon will speak in Light Hall, Room 208. Lunch will be provided for the first 100 attendees.
Prior to becoming a dean at the University of Akron, Gordon served as dean of the University of Michigan-Flint’s School of Health Professions and Studies. He received his B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College in 1973 and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1979.
In 1991, he joined the University of Michigan as an associate professor of pathology. His research and clinical interests are in the areas of human atherosclerosis biology and gene therapy for vascular diseases. In 1997, Gordon left academia to work for Pfizer Inc. in the cardiovascular therapeutics pre-clinical division, where his group did further work on gene therapy for therapeutic angiogenesis.
In 2001, he returned to the University of Michigan as a professor of pathology and later was named the associate dean for diversity and career development. During this time, he created and led the medical school’s Diversity and Career Development Office.
In 2014, Gordon began his tenure as dean of the University of Akron College of Health Professions. His current focus is on promoting inter-professional education among the health professions, as well as on health improvement for underserved and disadvantaged populations.
