Graduated Harvard Medical School Class of 1979
Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith blazed trails as a physician in Boston and as a commissioner of public health in Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Spelman College and Harvard Medical School, and she completed her residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital in 1982. Dr. Prothrow-Stith broke new ground by defining youth violence in America as a public health problem. From 1987—1989 she served as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making her the first woman, the first African American, and the youngest ever to serve in the role. Appointed by Governor Michael Dukakis, Dr. Prothrow-Stith led a department with 3,500 employees, eight hospitals and a budget of $350 million.
Following her service to the Commonwealth, Dr. Prothrow-Stith was the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Public Health Practice and Associate Dean for Diversity at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she created and led the Division of Public Health Practice. Dr. Prothrow-Stith is currently Dean and Professor of Medicine for the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California.
The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Prothrow-Stith received the 1989 Secretary of Health and Human Service Award and a Presidential appointment to the National Commission on Crime Control and Prevention. In 2015, she was inducted into the honor roll of women physicians in the Massachusetts Medical Society.