Barbara Fivush, senior associate dean of women in science and medicine, inaugural director of the Office of Women in Science and Medicine, and former pediatric nephrology division director, will retire on June 30, 2021. Barbara’s impact as a mentor, sponsor and adviser, in particular for women faculty, has been remarkable and will be truly missed.
Barbara’s career at Johns Hopkins has spanned 41 years, starting with her training in pediatrics. She remained here as a fellow in pediatric nephrology before joining the faculty. Rising through the ranks, she was promoted to division director of pediatric nephrology in 1993 and to professor of pediatrics in 2002.
Barbara made many contributions to pediatric nephrology locally and nationally. She was active in the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, and in 2016 received the Henry L. Barnett Award for lifetime achievement in pediatric nephrology from the American Academy of Pediatrics. While division director, she began to focus on addressing gender equity in the school of medicine, and became a staunch advocate. In 2003, she was appointed co-director of the school of medicine Women’s Leadership Council. She participated on the committee for faculty development and gender, whose findings were pivotal in the 2008 creation of the Office of Women in Science and Medicine (OWISM). Barbara was named the inaugural director of the OWISM, as well as the associate dean of women in science and medicine. In this role, she helped to lead development of several leadership programs for women, including the Leadership Program for Women Faculty (2009), the Emerging Women Leadership Program (2011) and the Mary Elizabeth Garrett Executive Leadership for Women Faculty Program (2018). In recognition of her leadership, Barbara was promoted to senior associate dean for women in science and medicine in 2017. Barbara chaired the school of medicine Committee on the Status of Women for over a decade. Reports from this committee have resulted in significant improvement in gender equity across the school of medicine, and that work helped to inform her contributions as a member of the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS).
Throughout her career, Barbara has advocated for enhancing the academic careers of women, and has worked to help prepare women to obtain leadership roles. Please join us in expressing appreciation for Barbara and all that she has contributed to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine over her long and successful tenure here. We wish her the best in her upcoming retirement.