Board of Advisors

Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland
Dean, School of Medicine

Dr. Donald E. Wilson became dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in September 1991. At that time, he became the nation's first African-American dean of a non-predominantly minority accredited medical school. In May 1999 he became the University's first Vice President for Medical Affairs.

Dr. Wilson, a gastroenterologist, came to Maryland after 11 years as professor and chairman of the department of medicine, State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He was physician-in-chief of the University Hospital of Brooklyn and Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University and received his medical degree from Tufts University.

At the Federal Level:

Dr. Wilson is currently is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the NIH. He has served as chairman of several committees including:

• The National Institute of Health's Digestive Diseases Advisory Board
• The Food and Drug Administration's Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee
• The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (Department of Health and Human Services) Advisory Council

At the State Level:

• Dr. Wilson was chairman of Maryland's Health Care Access and Cost Commission from 1994-1999.
• In 1999, he became chairman of the new Maryland Health Care Commission, which represented a merger of the Health Care Access and Cost Commission and the Health Resources Planning Commission.
• He also serves as a member of the Emergency Medical Services Commission of Maryland.

At the Local Level:

Dr. Wilson sits on the boards of the following organizations:

• The Baer School
• City of Baltimore
• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
• Kernan Hospital Endowment Fund
• Maryland Emergency Medical Services Board of Directors
• Mercy Medical Center
• Provident Bank
• Terrapin Insurance Company
• University of Maryland Medical Center
• University of Maryland Medical System

Dr. Wilson is chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), immediate past-chairman of the AAMC’s Council of Deans, and a member of the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans, the Executive Committee, and the Advisory Panel on the Mission of Medical Schools of the AAMC. He was named co-chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa's Task Force on AIDS in Africa. In addition, he sits on the Board of Overseers of Tufts School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.

Medical/Research Societies:

Dr. Wilson is a Master of the American College of Physicians, an honor bestowed on less than 0.4% of members. He co-founded the Association for Academic Minority Physicians in 1986.He holds membership in numerous prestigious medical/research societies, including:

• The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
• The Association of American Physicians
• The American Clinical and Climatological Association

Achievements and Awards:

• Election to membership in Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honors society.
• Received the Baltimore Urban League Whitney M. Young, Jr., Humanitarian Award.
• Baltimore Area Council Boy Scouts of America Health Services Good Scout Award in 1999
• In 2000 Dr. Wilson received the AAMC's first Herbert W. Nickens, MD, Award for justice in medical education and health care.
• Recently received the National Medical Association's 2001 Internist of the Year special recognition award.
• He is a 2003 recipient of Towson University’s Distinguished Black Marylanders Award and the 2003 University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ Frederick Douglass Award.

Dr. Wilson has over 150 publications in the fields of internal medicine, gastroenterology and medical education, and has served or is serving as editor or associate editor of several medical journals, including the Journal of the Association for Academic Minority Physicians, the Journal of the American College of Nutrition and Prostaglandins.