Tufts Medicine

Vivian Pinn, a physician, professor and researcher who has spent her career advancing women’s health issues and working to eliminate health care disparities, and who had a legendary impact as assistant dean of students at the medical school from 1970 to 1982, was inducted into Modern Healthcare’s Health Care Hall of Fame in March. The ceremony took place in Chicago.

Upon entering medical school at the University of Virginia in 1963, Pinn found herself to be the sole woman and only African American in her class. She graduated with honors. At Tufts, she quickly earned a reputation for her close attention to students, especially minority women, and became a valued mentor.

She was the first African American woman to chair an academic pathology department in the U.S., at Howard University College of Medicine. She also served as the first full-time director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at NIH, beginning in 1991. At a special ceremony on the Boston campus in 2011, the medical school’s Office of Student Affairs, was dedicated in her honor and a new scholarship fund was created in her name. Pinn serves on the Board of Advisors to Tufts School of Medicine.