Daniel Dawes, J.D., DHL (Hon.)

Daniel E. Dawes, J.D., is the Founding Dean of School of Global Health and Senior Vice President of Global Health at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. Prior to this, he served as Vice President, Executive Director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, and Professor of health law, policy, and management at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Among his many achievements, he was an instrumental figure, during his tenure as a health policy advisor on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, in developing and negotiating the Mental Health Parity Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, and the Affordable Care Act’s health equity-focused provisions, among other landmark federal policies, as well as the principal investigator for the nation’s first health equity tracker.

Dawes is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He serves as an advisor to The White House on health equity initiatives, an appointed member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee to the Director where he co-chairs the CDC’s health equity working, and the NIH’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research.