Please join us in congratulating Gary C. Butts, MD, on his appointment as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In these roles, Dr. Butts is responsible for oversight, management, and integration of the Mount Sinai Health System’s diversity programs and policies with a goal to reaffirm diversity and inclusion as an integral core institutional value and resource across the Health System.
Dr. Butts holds appointments as Professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Medical Education, and Preventive Medicine, and has been an integral member of the senior leadership team at the School of Medicine since 1998. He has dedicated more than three decades providing health care services to East and Central Harlem residents. During the last 14 years, he has developed and spearheaded efforts to improve and sustain racial, ethnic, and gender diversity throughout the School of Medicine. Since 2004, he has been Associate Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs and has directed the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, recognized as a Health Resources and Services Administration Center of Excellence for Minority Health. The School of Medicine is now one of the nation’s most diverse student bodies among private medical schools, and the percentage of African American and Latino faculty and house staff has doubled.
Dr. Butts received his medical degree from Cornell Medical College and completed his clinical training in pediatrics at Mount Sinai. A native of Brooklyn, Dr. Butts served as Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene between 1993 and 1998, where among other roles, he directed citywide health services planning, clinical service, and program development for the largest local health department in the nation.