Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
“If we are to thrive as a society – economically, socially, and morally – we must live in a just world where we accommodate, welcome, and understand a future excellence not from a sole monochromatic lens, but from a kaleidoscope.” So said Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, vice dean, Magerstadt Professor of Medicine, and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Feinberg) in Chicago during a 2021 episode of the “Medicine Mentors” podcast. During that conversation, Dr. Yancy shared how his humble beginnings in 1960s Scotlandville, Louisiana, as the only child of an indefatigable educator, the grandson of sharecroppers, and the great-great-grandson of enslaved people have shaped the equity-minded cardiologist, researcher, mentor, and educator he is today.
As the Civil Rights movement evolved, a young Dr. Yancy frequently faced heart-wrenching barriers. The dream of becoming a doctor seemed elusive. But his biggest advocate – his mother – wouldn’t hear of it. Her love, support, and exacting insistence on her son receiving the best possible education propelled Dr. Yancy to enter Tulane University School of Medicine at age 20 and graduate near the top of his class in 1982. Internal medicine training at the fabled Parkland Memorial Hospital followed with a cardiovascular fellowship and research training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He joined the faculty there in 1989.
Over the next 17 years, Dr. Yancy progressed to hold the Carl H. Westcott Distinguished Chair in Medical Research and to serve as associate dean for clinical affairs while also leading the heart failure and transplant program. He concurrently conducted pioneering research in heart failure and transplantation, heart disease in African Americans, and health disparities, quickly emerging as a national leader in heart failure. In 2010 he earned an MSc in health care management from the University of Texas.
In 2011, Dr. Yancy was recruited to lead the Division of Cardiology at Feinberg and co-lead the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine. In 2015, he was named a vice dean and now leads the Office of Health Equity at Feinberg. Since then, the number of underrepresented in medicine (URM) faculty has doubled, and admittance to Feinberg of medical students from varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds has increased from 11% to 25%; URM representation in residency programs has tripled to 31%. Moreover, for the past 15 years, Dr. Yancy has served as medical director for the Northwestern Medicine Grosvenor Scholars mentorship program for students in Chicago public schools with interests in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine. Among 200 students from underserved communities, 98% of “his kids” have enrolled in college mostly as first-generation college students, and nearly 5% have enrolled in medical school.
A member of the National Academy of Medicine, amongst the top 1% of cited scientific authors worldwide, a past president of the American Heart Association (AHA), and a servant of multiple government entities, Dr. Yancy has been honored with two AHA Gold Heart Awards, multiple lifetime achievement awards for clinical research, awards for mentoring, and several leadership awards as a champion for ensuring all communities have an equal opportunity to thrive. He intends to use the Nickens Award to establish an eponymous scholarship at Northwestern in honor of his mother, Hilda Jones Yancy.