Retirement of Levi Watkins, M.D., Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Programs and Faculty Development

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues:

It is with a commingled sense of regret and deep appreciation that we announce the intention of cardiac surgeon Levi Watkins Jr.—an extraordinary medical pioneer, role model and all-around humanitarian—to retire as associate dean for postdoctoral programs and faculty development, effective Dec. 31.

Although he set down his scalpel in 2006, Levi has remained as powerful a presence and as important an influence on Johns Hopkins as he was when he arrived here in 1970 as a general surgery intern. He subsequently became the first African-American chief resident in cardiac surgery in the history of The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

During his four-decade career here—some 22 years of which have been spent as our wise, inspiring leader of postdoctoral fellows—Levi has had a profound impact on this institution. Through the countless patients he has treated, the students he has recruited and mentored, and the cultural diversity he has advanced, Levi has made Johns Hopkins an infinitely finer place.

Levi's career has been one of monumental firsts: In 1966, he was the first African-American medical student admitted to Vanderbilt University; in 1980, here at Johns Hopkins, he performed the world's first implantation of an automatic heart defibrillator in a human—a procedure that has since been performed more than a million times and has saved tens of thousands of lives. In 1991, he became the first African-American at Johns Hopkins to be promoted to full professor of cardiac surgery. He was named the first African-American associate dean in the school of medicine and established the nation's first postdoctoral association, helping to revolutionize the culture of postdoctoral education in the United States. More than 50 such organizations now exist across the country. 

Levi has been a relentless advocate for fairness and diversity. Joining the school of medicine's admissions committee in 1979, he launched a one-man drive to recruit minority applicants. He wrote letters to qualified candidates, urging them to apply to Johns Hopkins, and held an annual welcoming and networking reception for those who did and were accepted. By 1983, minority representation in the school had soared by 400 percent.

It is because of his devotion to diversity—and his passionate commitment to human rights and the ideals of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he knew well—that we owe Levi's creation of our Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration, held at the hospital every January since 1982. To this remarkable event he has brought an illustrious array of speakers, from the late civil rights leaders Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks, to Jesse Jackson, poet Maya Angelou, actors Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Danny Glover, Lou Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson, to musician Stevie Wonder and Pulitzer Prize-winning King biographer, Taylor Branch.

We are delighted that despite his retirement, Levi has agreed to continue to be part of our King commemoration. It is no exaggeration to say that these distinguished individuals have come to the event not only to honor Dr. King's legacy but also Levi Watkins' astonishing achievements. Levi's ideals have transformed our institutional values and conduct—for which we will be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine