Dr. Eve Higginbotham served (2013-2024) as the inaugural Vice Dean for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at the University of Pennsylvania.    A glaucoma specialist, Professor of Ophthalmology and Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, Dr. Higginbotham delivered the 80^th Jackson Memorial Lecture at the AAO in 2023.  She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was one of three Vice Chairs of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study among other multicenter clinical trials.  She is a member of the BOD of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear.  Dr. Higginbotham graduated from MIT with S.B. and S.M. degrees in chemical engineering and MD from Harvard Medical School, In 2020, she completed a Master in Law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.  She continues to publish in fields of ophthalmology, organizational culture, health policy, and health equity.

Ascension is the second largest private health system in the United States, serving underserved populations in 20 states and the District of Columbia. She previously served terms on the Harvard Board of Overseers and the MIT Corporation, completing overlapping terms on both governing boards.   She continues to serve on two MIT Corporation Visiting Committees,  the Institute of Medical Engineering and Science and Undergraduate and Graduate Education.  Previous executive leadership roles include Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Maryland, Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences at Howard University.  She also served as President of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and she was a member of the Defense Health Board for 10 years.   

Financial disclosure: Dr. Higgenbotham has/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

• University of Pennsylvania - Employment; Faculty
• Ascension, Health System; Mass Eye & Ear, Boston - Board Member
• National Eye Institute - Vice Chair, Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study;Funding Ended, 2020