WRNMMC, Bethesda, MD  –   “Diversity is a force multiplier,” said Dr. Jonathan Woodson, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), during a program hosted by Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) on Feb. 21 in celebration of Black History Month.

As part of the program, Woodson sat down for an hour-long conversation with WRNMMC Chief of Staff Navy Capt. (Dr.) Kelly Elmore. They discussed various topics focused on this year’s Black History Month theme, “Inspiring Change,” with a particular focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

“You have to really be committed to setting the conditions that actually allow everyone in your organization to achieve their potential,” Woodson said regarding DEI. He added that conditions must provide opportunities for people with different backgrounds and experiences to contribute to solving the organization’s challenges and helping set goals for the agency to fully meet its mission.

“We can’t serve our beneficiaries [in the Military Health System] without having a truly representative cohort of health professionals to do that,” Woodson continued. He explained this means having people in leadership positions and providing care to beneficiaries who have the same or similar backgrounds and experiences as those whom they are leading and providing the care.

“In public institutions, we haven’t had true responsibilities for setting those conditions as a platform for advancement of all our citizens in allowing them to achieve better lives within our nation. So, we have an extra responsibility in public institutions to ensure we create welcoming environments that have diverse populations and different perspectives,” he said.

Woodson, as the seventh president of USU, leads a diverse university that includes more than 2,500 students from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences and public health, the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, and the university's Postgraduate Dental College and College of Allied Health Sciences.

A vascular surgeon, Woodson recently retired as a major general from the U.S. Army Reserve, where he served as commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Command.

In 2010, President Barack Obama selected Woodson to be the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, which he served as until 2016. That same year, Woodson was appointed as a member of the USU Board of Regents and later served as its chair prior to becoming the USU president last June.

Before serving as the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Woodson was a professor of surgery and associate dean for students, diversity, and multicultural affairs and senior attending vascular surgeon at Boston Medical Center.

During his fireside chat with Elmore, who is also a physician, Woodson said people who have inspired him along his journey are family members who were part of “The Greatest Generation,” as well as individuals who were part of the Civil Rights Movement.

“My dad served in a segregated military during the second world war, as did his brothers,” Woodson shared. “They came away from that experience with a couple of intense feelings. The first was their feelings of having been called to serve and not being treated equally. They brought that back [with them] and dedicated themselves to improving the situation for equity. The second part of that is their intense pride of having served and understanding the opportunities this country could have for them. That was the experience of many African Americans coming out of the second world war. This sowed the seeds of the Civil Rights Movement, which began in earnest in the 1950s, was accelerated during the 1960s, and it still goes on today. We’re about 180 years past the Emancipation Proclamation, and we know there’s still more work to do.”

Woodson added that when he was coming of age during the late 1960s and 1970s, “it was an intense period in history.” He explained that although the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, “change didn’t occur overnight. That was a delayed process which extended well into the 1970s.” Other events he said helped shape him were the Freedom Rides and Sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement.

“At the same time, [my family] was instilling in me the value of taking advantage of opportunities,” Woodson continued. “They told me to have confidence in myself and to know that I was just as good as anyone else. You also must be self-reflective in knowing what you need to improve [in yourself], but at the same time, you can’t be defeated by other people’s opinions. There’s a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that states, ‘No one can make you inferior without your consent.’

“Through the course of our lives, people will want to have opinions of us, but those opinions shouldn’t really shape how we see ourselves and see our own potential,” Woodson explained.

He also shared situations in which he felt he was discriminated against, and his credentials and skills questioned. However, he said he didn’t let those instances deter him from achieving his goals. “You can’t let those experiences preclude you from fully participating in what our society has to offer. You must plow through that,” he said.

Woodson encouraged people to respect each other and understand what everyone can contribute to the success of the mission. In addition, he urged people to have personal courage. “Like Martin Luther King said, ‘If you see something that is not morally correct, stand up and say something, even if it might cost you something,’” he added.

He also listed among those who have inspired him James Meredith, Ralph Abernathy, “and the average African Americans whose names [many don’t know], but who went to the marches in Selma and Washington and had a lot to lose. I stand on their shoulders, and they are the true heroes. They suffered through fire bombings, fire hoses and dogs. They were heroic. You think about the nine students who walked through that gauntlet to attend high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, and that’s heroic. They stood up for something they knew was right, gave voice to many other individuals and took the consequences and changed the world.”

Navy Capt. Felix (Drew) Bigby, WRNMMC’s interim director, agreed, stating the sacrifices and achievements of numerous black Americans helped shape the nation. “These achievements are an enduring part of our history. Black history is American history. While discrimination and inequality remain constant threats, continued efforts by service members and civilians have steadily improved the conditions and policies that govern and increase diversity among the military population,” he added.

The program concluded with Bigby and WRNMMC Command Master Chief Trey Hauptmann, the medical center’s senior enlisted leader, signing a proclamation committing WRNMMC to embracing the principles of DEI “in all that [it] does.”