Dear Colleagues,

Paula K. Davis, MA, associate vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, has informed me that she will be stepping down from this role effective June 30, 2023. Paula was promoted to her current role in 2020 after serving 13 years as assistant vice chancellor for Pitt Health Sciences DEI. In total, she has passionately served the University in DEI roles of increasing responsibility for 36 years – 29 of those recruiting and supporting students, faculty and trainees underrepresented in medicine and other health sciences.

In her own words, during the past four decades Paula has seen Pitt DEI efforts transition from getting “bolted onto” outdated systems to getting “built into” new, inclusive and more equitable approaches to student admissions, faculty recruitment and support services. Perhaps the best testament to Paula’s legacy at Pitt Health Sciences is the role she has played in helping to enable these types of long overdue and necessary transitions.

As associate vice chancellor, Paula co-chaired the highly successful Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-being Cluster Hire and Retention Initiative launched in late 2020, which aimed to hire 50 diverse faculty by 2024. To date, 46 hires have been completed, with 43 of those in the health sciences. She also launched the Social Justice Faculty Fellowship Program, which engages one faculty member from each of Pitt’s six health sciences schools with a community organization in a longitudinal relationship designed to address structural inequity and racism while also providing experiential learning centered on health-related social justice and racial equity issues. For her exceptional service in multiple roles, Paula received the 2023 University of Pittsburgh Tracy Soska and John Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Award, which honors a faculty member or staff engagement professional for outstanding dedication to University-community connections.

A born-and-bred Pittsburgher and Pitt person, Paula earned her BA in English writing and her master’s degree in speech rhetoric and communication both at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is also currently completing her Ed.D. in educational foundations, organizations, and policy. Paula joined Pitt as a staff member in 1982, serving as an academic advisor in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences and later as a senior counselor and program manager for Pitt’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. She then spent several years in director roles related to admissions, financial aid and student and alumni relations for Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Information Systems and Public Policy before Pitt recruited her in 1994 to serve as director of minority programs in the School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs. Paula later served as assistant dean for student affairs and director of diversity programs for Pitt Med and, in 2003, became the first individual to win the Chancellor’s Affirmative Action Award, presented to an outstanding school, division, initiative, or program making a significant contribution to increasing diversity and inclusion.

Paula is retiring from her full-time role at Pitt but will remain in a part-time position supporting the Pre-Health Scholars Program, an undergraduate diversity program committed to the recruitment, retention and graduation of pre-health undergraduates who are underrepresented in medicine and other health professions.

Please join me in thanking Paula for her many years of dedicated service to Pitt Health Sciences and the University broadly and wishing her the best in her next steps. She will be missed.

Anantha Shekhar, MD, PhD

Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences

John and Gertrude Petersen Dean, School of Medicine