The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE) at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing Geisel’s diversity programs and executing its mission of promoting unity and respect within its community. DICE serves as an advisor to underrepresented students and student groups and works to support and ensure the success and retention of all minority students, faculty, and staff.Geisel School of Medicine Dean Duane Compton has named Stephanie L. White, MD, MSHS, FAAP, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. White succeeds Dean of Faculty Affairs Leslie Henderson, PhD, who has held that position since 2014.
“I am very excited Dr. White is taking on this important role at Geisel,” Compton says. “She has broad perspective on how to advance initiatives that support diversity in the Geisel community."
Overseeing the medical school’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, White works closely with Geisel senior leadership, including Henderson, and with Dartmouth’s director of Institutional Diversity and Equity as well as the leadership of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (D-H), the White River Junction Veteran Affairs Medical Center, and Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies to build a diverse and inclusive community of students, residents, postdocs, staff, and faculty.
“Having worked very closely with her over the past three years, I cannot think of a better person for this position—I am extremely pleased that Stephanie has been chosen as Geisel’s new Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion,” Henderson says. “She has tremendous ideas that are fully grounded in an understanding of how to successfully implement plans within a complex set of institutional structures, she has wonderful rapport with the medical school’s community, and has the insight and drive to build bridges with our clinical and academic partners across Dartmouth, D-H and the VA. Welcome Steph!”
A pediatrician, White joined Geisel as an assistant professor of pediatrics in 2015 and has been deeply involved in Geisel’s diversity related initiatives. She says diversity and inclusion work, “compels collaborations, constantly requires learning and reflection of our own biases, and ultimately allows those of us in the field to remember why we do this work—to create equitable and respectful work environments that allows for innovation, the opportunity to advance science, and the possibility to change the mindsets of generations of physicians who will go on to care for millions and ameliorate our most challenging health disparities.”
She has written for the Dartmouth Public Voices Fellowship Op-Ed project, which gives a public voice to the ideas of underrepresented thinkers to shape important national conversations. Her Op-Ed about pediatrics and race has been widely shared on Twitter, including retweet by AMA Medical Ethics, inclusion in a weekly email from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and discussed at the AAP National Conference and the national AAMC conference.
“This position really is the dream job I envisioned while in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh,” White says. “And I now have the privilege of collaborating with leaders in the field of medical education and diversity and inclusion. I look forward to building upon Geisel and Dartmouth’s commitment to diversity—threading the pieces together and working with colleagues to share our successes with other institutions and the broader Geisel community.”