Minority Access' Role Models Project
Minority Access has publicized and honored students during their collegiate years who are now recipients of master's degrees and earned doctorate degrees, including Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s. We are convinced that their being publicized and honored as Minority Access Role Models has contributed to the expansion of the pool of student researchers from underrepresented groups. Many have shared with us stories of their elevated status on campus after being honored as a Minority Access Role Model. Just as persons strive to emulate the stars of Hollywood and professional sport leagues, students strive to emulate their peers who are stars on their campus.
In addition to students, faculty and alumni from underrepresented groups honored as Role Models by Minority Access are their supporters, recruiters and administrators as well as innovators who have gained national attention for their benefit to mankind. Each one of these individuals has an inspiring story, often including overcoming difficult obstacles to achieve. Minority Access has honored nearly 400 individuals over the past fourteen years.
Sampling of Minority Access National Role Models
YEARS 2000 - 2014 *Positions listed were those held at the time of award presentation*
Dr. Keith Black
Renowned Brain Surgeon and Director of Neurosurgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center
Dr. Cristina Fernandez-Valle
Professor Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences - College of Medicine, University of Central Florida Orlando, FL
Dr. Benjamin Carson
Renowned Surgeon and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital
Dr. Clive Callender
Transplant Pioneer and Founder of the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) and Chairman of the Department of Surgery, Howard University
Dr. Donna Christen Christensen
Virgin Island Delegate to the U.S. House of Representative and Physician
Dr. Louis Dale
First Vice President for Equity and Diversity at The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr.
82nd Attorney General of the United States, the first African American to hold the position of U.S. Attorney General
Dr. Verna Fowler
President of the College of Menominee Nation
Dr. A. James Hicks
Director of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, National Science Foundation
Dr. Alma C. Hobbs
Assistant Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dr. Marilyn French Hubbard
Corporate Vice President of Community Partnership and Diversity, Henry Ford Health Systems
Dr. William Kirwan
Chancellor of the University System of Maryland and Former President of The Ohio State University
Dr. Ted Love
Distinguished Surgeon and President and CEO of Nuvelo, Inc.
Dr. Charles Modlin, Jr.
Kidney Transplant Surgeon and Director of Minority Men's Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Antonio Novella
First Hispanic Surgeon General of the United States
Dr. Dixie Tooke-Rawlins
Provost, Dean and Executive Vice President, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Earl Richardson
President of Morgan State University
Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson, Jr.
First African American Surgeon General of the United States Navy
Dr. John Ruffin
Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
The Honorable Ermea J. Russell
First African-American woman appointed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals
Lt. General Ricardo S. Sanchez
Commanding Officer, V Corp, United States Army and Highly Decorated Soldier
Dr. David Satcher
Sixteenth Surgeon General of the United States
Dr. Blue Spruce
First Native American to Receive a D.D.S. and Founder of the Society of American Indian Dentists
The Honorable Louis Stokes
Retired Congressman
Dr. Elda Sanchez
"Snake Lady," Assistant Professor of Chemistry Texas A&M University - Kingsville, Executive Co-Director of the National Natural Toxins Research Center and inducted into the YWCA's Women in Careers Hall of Fame
Dr. Louis Sullivan
Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Founding Dean and Former President of Morehouse School of Medicine
Dr. Herman Taylor
Professor of Medicine and Director of the Jackson Heart Study
Dr. Charles Douglass Whitlock
President of Eastern Kentucky University
Dr. Laura A. Williams
Global Project Head of the Renal Global Project, Abbott Laboratories
Sampling of 2017 Minority Access National Role Models
YEARS 2017 *Positions listed were those held at the time of award presentation*
Category - Administrator
| Role Model Name | Institution |
| Raymond B. Allen, M.A. | Southeastern University |
| Kathleen Buckley, MDiv. | St. Lawrence University |
| Katrina M. Caldwell, Ph.D. | University of Mississippi |
| Tabitha A. Enoch, M.A. | University of Virginia |
| Keri Hesson, M.S. | Auburn University |
| Jerri Marr, B.S. | University of Tennessee |
| Andrea Guzman Oliver, Ph.D. | Florida Atlantic University |
| Benjamin Williams, Ph.D. | Ron Brown College Preparatory High School |
| Johnny Young, Ed.D. | Old Dominion University |
| Category - Alumni Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Rosianna R. Gray, Ph.D. | University of Alabama |
| Candy Moore, B.A. | Converse College |
| Lyna Nyamwaya, B.S. | Metropolitan State University |
| Allen A. Robinson, DDS | Morgan State University |
| Aaron D. Smith, M.A. | Lynchbury College |
| Category - Faculty Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Derek D. Bardell, M.A. | Delgado Community College |
| Charlene Crawley, Ph.D | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Dwayne L. Daniels, Ph.D. | Fort Valley State University |
| Robin R. Means Coleman, Ph.D. | University of Michigan |
| Michelle Robinson, DMD | The University of Alabama Birmingham |
| Raj Sethuraju, Ph.D. | Metropolitan State University |
| Category - Faculty Mentor Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Mijitaba Hamissou, Ph.D. | Jacksonville State University |
| William E. Hart, Ph.D. | University of Tennessee |
| Shayla Sawyer, Ph.D. | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Michael Smith, Ph.D. | University of Tennessee |
| Gabriela L. Stein, Ph.D. | University of North Carolina Greensboro |
| Category - Faculty Researcher Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Neval Erturk, Ph.D. | Converse College |
| Melanie Van Stry, Ph.D. | Lane College |
| Lakiesha Williams, Ph.D. | Mississippi State University |
| Category - Recruiter Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Justin J. Mathis, M.Ed. | Kentucky State University |
| Category - Student Award | |
| Role Model Name | |
| Cassandra Germana, B.S. | Seton Hall University |
| Cleveland Ivey | Fort Valley State University |
| Raymond Richards, M.S. | Seton Hall University |
| Xavia Taylor | Fort Valley State University |