Congratulations to Professor Jay Pearson as he will become the first Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Dr. Pearson is an Associate Professor whose research, teaching, and advocacy address how policy-sponsored, structurally rooted social inequality influences health inequities. Dr. Pearson will lead Sanford’s work as a community that embraces all its members and educates leaders prepared to engage policy problems with a keen understanding of systemic racism and other manifestations of structural inequality. Before the name was changed to DEI, it was founded in 2013, and formerly named Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) with Professors Pearson and Kate Whetten as founding co-chairs. Professor Jay Pearson will begin his term on January 1, 2023.