Graduated Harvard Medical School Class of 1979
Andre L. Churchwell, MD, graduated magna cum laude from the Vanderbilt School of Engineering in 1975. He attended Harvard Medical School and earned his medical degree in 1979. He completed his internship, residency, and cardiology fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Churchwell is a professor of medicine (cardiology), professor of radiology and radiological sciences, professor of biomedical engineering, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity Affairs at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He served as Vice Chancellor for Outreach at Vanderbilt from 2020 until he stepped down 2023, transitioning to the role of Senior Advisor on Inclusion and Community Outreach at Vanderbilt. Dr. Churchwell delivered the 2022 Howard, Dorsey, Still Lecture at the Diversity Awards Ceremony at HMS.
“…there was no other med school in the country I was more interested in than Harvard, because it had all those great resources, all the opportunities to look at engineering in medicine and science.” (17:20)
“…my dad’s family originated from a plantation -- which we found out about recently -- down near Clifton, Tennessee, which is in the southwest part of the state.” (00:04)
”And I came home -- been back home since 1991, and have been working with Vanderbilt all along. I…became a dean of diversity involved in diversity since ’07 -- almost 10 years now -- here, taking all the lessons I had learned at Emory -- and the lessons about the importance of diversity from Harvard Med School. Make it clear, I learned a lot about the importance of diversity, and the value of it.” (33:44)