Leaving a Legacy
Dr. Donald Wilson leaves a much improved UMD med school after serving 15 years as dean.

By Ibram Rogers

Shortly after Dr. Donald Wilson became dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1991, making him the nation’s first African-American to lead a predominantly White medical school, he began sharing his objectives with students.

During one meeting, his medical students told him he was stressing research funding too much. Wilson’s response: “Name for me the top five medical schools in the United States.” They did.

Then, Wilson said: “Now name for me the schools with the top research funding in the United States.” The two lists were the same, proving Wilson’s point. That was the juncture at which the culture of the school began to change.

Over the past 15 years, Wilson has transformed this public medical school into, arguably, one of the finest in the country by bringing in more research dollars and more faculty and students of color. But Wilson, currently the fourth longest-serving medical school dean in the country, will be stepping down Sept. 1.

“I am so proud of the significant growth and accomplishments that the School of Medicine has made while I have been here,” he says.

The veteran administrator cites his desire to spend more time with his family and concerns about his health as his primary motivations for leaving the university. Wilson received a kidney transplant in December.

“Although I have recovered significantly from my illness and surgery, I have not regained the energy that sustained me through the first 14 years of my deanship,” he says. “I cannot, in good conscience, continue without the ability to give 100 percent of my focus and energy to this demanding and important position.”

Wilson usually worked between 80 and 90 hours per week, a schedule he cannot continue without affecting his health, he says.