Rosalind Gregory-Bass

Dr. Rosalind Gregory-Bass learned of the complexities of disease morbidity and mortality in her surrounding communities prompting her to embark on a health professional career. The product of a true workforce development pipeline, she attended the pre-freshmen summer science program and majored in Biology, graduating cum laude from Spelman College.  Through a strategic informal pipeline initiative, she gained acceptance to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, becoming the first African American to receive a master’s degree from the Anatomy department.  She then continued her journey at UW, gaining acceptance to medical school and graduating in 1999. During her residency training at Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department, she became the first Black chief resident.  Dr. Gregory-Bass conducted research throughout her clinical training and her intellectual curiosity prompted her to do a post-doctoral fellowship at Morehouse School of Medicine, as a Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Scholar.  Her research training led to multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals both in the biomedical sciences and in public health.  She also has mentored over 54 students engaged in independent research projects focused on women’s health.

Ultimately, her scholarship, service, and teaching led to Dr. Gregory-Bass becoming the first MD to receive tenure through the formal process at Spelman College.  In 2014, there was a national shift to re-envision standardized test preparation for pre-medical students.  Desiring to keep Spelman on the pulse of this major shift, she designed and implemented with the help of her colleagues the Health Science major in 2015.  The goal was to comprehensively prepare students for a diversity of careers and provide a flexible curriculum allowing students to complete pre-requisites, while gaining practical applied experiences.  The major requires students to gain a foundation in the basic sciences and public health and strongly encourage them to participate in clinical experiences, conduct research, and global experiences.  Dr. Gregory-Bass spearheaded eight global health trips to Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, as well as, Cape Town, South Africa with an emphasis on understanding health disparities along the African Diaspora. She became the first chair of the Environmental and Health Sciences Department, serving for three years. According to Spelman’s most recent factbook, the Health Science major was ranked the #1 major for the Class of 2026 with 95+ first year students.

While chair of the Environmental and Health Sciences Department, she also served as Director for the Health Careers Program.  The office currently supports approximately 850+ students.  Her passion for helping the next generation of healthcare professionals has led to her advising over 2500+ pre-health students both at Spelman and throughout the US.  She believes that curriculum that embeds theoretical best practices and a culturally competent applied framework to instruction can yield the accomplishment of what may not otherwise be obtained.  As a result, in 2009, Dr. Gregory-Bass developed the Health Careers Opportunities Pipeline Preparation Program, a three-year para-curricular program, designed to help highly motivated student scholars become competitive applicants for health professional school.  150 scholars have matriculated through this program with an 88% acceptance rate to graduate and professional schools across the country.

In her role, she worked diligently to create pathways for incoming students, increasing the number of early acceptance programs from two programs to now twenty-six in a diversity of disciplines including medicine, dentistry, nursing, public health, and exercise science to name a few; the most of any other historically Black College. Under her leadership, the Health Careers Program sponsored nine Spelman College Health Professions Conferences, Mock Interview Days, Nursing Symposia, Health Professional School Recruitment Fairs, annual health fairs and Red Cross Blood Drives, the 2019 Alumnae Healthcare Summit, and the newly instituted, campus-wide free test preparation through Kaplan for current students and alumnae.  Spelman continues to be a top leader in the development of young women, who desire to become 21^st century leaders in healthcare.

Dr. Gregory-Bass’ commitment to workforce development is palpable at the national level.  She is a member of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, focused diversifying the healthcare workforce.  She served as a member for dedicated member for 2 years before becoming the Southern Region nominations chair.  Dr. Gregory-Bass advanced to becoming the National Nominations Chair and eventually the first woman National President with a medical doctorate from 2020-2022.  She also was selected by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to serve as a steering committee member for the Action Collaborative to Increase the Number of Black Men in Medicine.  The work of this committee is published in Academic Medicine, the leading journal for medical education.

In the Atlanta community, she has served on multiple boards and promotes health literacy at Fulton County senior centers and local faith-based organizations.  She also volunteers with local elementary and secondary schools promoting STEM literacy. Dr. Gregory-Bass is a proud 27-year member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. having served on multiple committees with Madison, Wisconsin and Portsmouth, Virginia Alumnae Chapters.  Over the past 18 years, she has been an active member with the East Point-College Park Alumnae Chapter.

She credits all these accomplishments to God, her supportive family; the outstanding faculty, staff, and students of the Atlanta University Center; and her Spelman Sisterhood.