Randolph Rasch, PhD, MSN’79, dean of Michigan State University’s College of Nursing, will lead that state’s effort to reduce health disparities for people of color, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday in her State of the State address.
Whitmer lauded Rasch’s work toward reducing implicit bias, which can cause medical professionals to discount the needs of their non-white patients, in his curriculum at MSU. He will lead a statewide initiative to improve health care for people of color by working with universities and medical providers to expand implicit bias training.
Rasch was the first African American man to get a Ph.D. in nursing and the first to work in Michigan as a public health nurse. He was one of Whitmer’s honored guests Wednesday at the State of the State event.