Stanford School of Medicine
Office of Diversity and Leadership–

Faculty Fellows Leadership Program

2007 Faculty Fellows Manuel Amieva, MD, PhD and Sylvia Plevritis, PhD
2007 Faculty Fellows Manuel Amieva, MD, PhD and Sylvia Plevritis, PhD

The Faculty Fellows Program is offered to selected mid-level faculty members on track to become high-level leaders. The goals of the program are to build community and to instill the skills and attitudes of leaders, including a commitment to the role of diversity in achieving excellence. Three major components make up the Faculty Fellows Program:

Monthly Dinner Meetings - Fellows attend monthly meetings featuring invited leaders who serve as role models by sharing their own leadership journeys, describing their own leadership styles and addressing specific challenges they have faced in their own careers.

Small-group Leadership Mentoring - Faculty members with the rank of full professor serve as volunteer mentors to groups of four or fewer participants. The groups meet once between each of the dinner meetings to discuss leadership challenges specifically and in general. Other topics, such as work/life balance issues, are also open for discussion.

Development Planning - Fellows engage in a structured process aimed at identifying opportunities for growth and development. The result is a personalized career development plan that they work with their chair or division chief to implement. Both the fellow and the chair/division chief are encouraged to take what they learn about the process for successfully developing career development plans and implement it with others whom they supervise.

Selection Process - The Faculty Fellows Program is designed to include 14 to 16 participants each year. Candidates are nominated by their department chairs and other supervisors, and are ranked on the basis of leadership potential and demonstrated commitment to building diversity. Particular effort is made to ensure diversity within each cohort, with approximately half being women and 25 percent being from underrepresented minorities.


LaVera Crawley, MD, MPH

The Faculty Fellows program provided an invaluable opportunity for me to bond with Stanford University and to develop a deep loyalty to the Institution.  By sending me a message, loud and clear, that I was a valued member of the community and by providing me with tools to develop my leadership skills and competencies, the Program instilled in me the confidence that I can succeed and thrive in the School of Medicine. 
The value of the Program became most apparent to me recently when I was approached by individuals from a competing University who strongly encouraged me to apply for a faculty position for which I was considered their top candidate.  Bear in mind that this was an Institution where I had prior connections and had once considered it an ideal place for my academic growth.  Upon receiving the invitation to apply, I took a serious inventory of where I was in my career and what I wanted.  What became clear was that I wanted to be in an Institution that believed in me and that could offer me unequivocal evidence of support, not just at the Department level (which is critical) but also at the level of the Dean's Office. In short, I realized that the messages I received and experiences that have resulted from my participation in the Faculty Fellows Program confirmed that I was already in that ideal place.  I came to the conclusion that it would be unethical to consider applying elsewhere, given that I have no intention of leaving Stanford, and thus I politely declined the offer to submit an application.  This is direct evidence that the Faculty Fellows Program has had a positive effect on faculty retention, at least for this faculty member.
Eric Sibley, MD, PhD
Eric Sibley, MD, PhD
Participation in the Faculty Fellows program provided a wonderful opportunity to interact with colleagues with diverse leadership roles in the School of Medicine. In the absence of a formal curriculum, the informal dinner talks by senior University and community leaders allowed for common leadership themes to become apparent, including the values of promoting a vision, leading by example, and building consensus. A perfect complement to the dinner talks were the small group conversations with faculty fellow colleagues and our faculty mentor. These conversations provided an opportunity to discuss individual career and leadership challenges in greater detail and to give and receive practical feedback and advice. In addition to the personal leadership insight and knowledge gained, participation in the program enhanced a sense of community in support of a common academic medicine mission.

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