Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Medical Student Diversity

To the school of medicine

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Shari Lawson will assume the positions of assistant dean for medical student affairs and director of medical student diversity, effective July 1.

Dr. Lawson is an assistant professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the division director of general obstetrics and gynecology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is a frequent presenter at national meetings of the Association for Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Dr. Lawson earned her B.A. in biophysics from The Johns Hopkins University with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1997. In 2001, she earned her M.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Since joining the faculty, Dr. Lawson has served on the M.D. Admissions Committee, as a teacher in the Genes to Society curriculum and as a clinical preceptor.

As assistant dean in the Office of Medical Student Affairs, Dr. Lawson will serve as an adviser, advocate and role model for medical students, and support their efforts to apply for residencies and other programs or fellowships. As director of medical student diversity, Dr. Lawson will work closely with the vice dean for education, the vice president of diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine, the associate dean for institutional and student equity, and other school of medicine leaders to enhance the recruitment and success of a diverse student body and to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for medical students. Dr. Lawson will guide the development and implementation of robust recruitment and support strategies that are intentionally inclusive of students from underrepresented groups. She will work with minority medical student organizations, including the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), the Latino Medical Student Association and the Gertrude Stein Society. Of note, Dr. Lawson brings to this position personal experience from her years as a medical student member of SNMA and as assistant regional director of SNMA for Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Lawson as she assumes these important roles.

Sincerely,

Roy C. Ziegelstein, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Sarah Miller Coulson and Frank L. Coulson, Jr., Professor of Medicine
Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Education
Vice Dean for Education, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine