[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 93 (Monday, July 17, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1427-E1428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO DEAN DONALD E. WILSON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2006

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Donald E. Wilson, M.D, 
MACP, who is retiring as dean of the University of Maryland School of 
Medicine and vice president of Medical Affairs for the University of 
Maryland.
  Dean Donald E. Wilson has transformed the landscape of American 
medicine and medical education at the University of Maryland. In 1991, 
when Dr. Wilson was appointed dean of the University of Maryland School 
of Medicine,

[[Page E1428]]

he was the first African-American dean of a primarily non-minority 
medical school, as well as the first African-American dean at the 
University of Maryland School of Medicine.
  Since 1991, Dean Wilson has increased grant and contract awards from 
$77 million to $350 million. Philanthropic support for the school of 
medicine has risen from $1.7 million to $37 million. Dean Wilson has 
created one of the most diverse student bodies and faculties in the 
country, with the School of Medicine doubling the number of full-time 
African-American faculty. Now ranked among the top medical schools in 
the country, the University of Maryland School of Medicine has 
benefitted from Dean Wilson's leadership that has promoted the values 
of cultural and gender diversity and created an all-inclusive 
atmosphere at the medical school.
  Dean Wilson's commitment to the education of minority students in the 
field of medicine led him to found the Association of Academic Minority 
Physicians. He continues to serve as editor of the association's 
journal. For his devotion, Dr. Wilson became the first recipient of the 
Association of American Medical Colleges' Herbert W. Nickens, MD Award 
for Diversity.
  Dr. Wilson has been a good and trusted adviser to me on health care 
policy. He has spoken out about the need to expand research into 
diseases that are more prevalent in the African-American community and 
among women. His service on the Maryland Health Care Commission has 
helped to guarantee access to emergency health care for all Marylanders 
while ensuring that hospitals are able to provide those services.
  I hope you will join me in congratulating and thanking Dean Donald E. 
Wilson for his outstanding contributions to medical education and his 
commitment to racial and cultural inclusion.

                          ____________________