Choosing Michigan Over Warm Weather
I arrived in Ann Arbor from Tehran on New Year's Eve in 2011 with a single goal: to earn a PhD in public health and become a researcher. I had also been admitted to UCLA, but I chose the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UMSPH) because of its stronger national reputation. I told myself that an extra jacket was a small price to pay. What I carried with me was an MD degree from Iran, a degree that did not qualify me for clinical practice in the United States. Two factors made my situation particularly challenging. I was an Iranian national without U.S. citizenship, which meant fewer funding opportunities, and my interest was not in pursuing medicine but in population health research, a field that usually requires substantial support.
I expected to follow a traditional PhD route. Instead, UM and their faculty members opened a door I had never imagined.
Four Professors Who Changed My Life
Four prominent UM professors played defining roles in this unexpected path. Each made a key decision that reshaped the course of my professional life.
The first was Dr. Cleo Caldwell. She offered me a research assistant position at the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) and immediately involved me in work focused on race and health. Coming from a country where race is not discussed in the same way as in the United States, this was a profound shift. At UM, and especially under Cleo's mentorship, I was immersed in one of the nation's leading environments for health disparities research. That experience shaped my scientific direction and helped me become nationally recognized for work on structural racism and racial health inequities. This foundation later led me to develop the theory of Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) and eventually establish the MDRs Center in Los Angeles.
The Five-Minute Conversation That Changed Everything
A year after arriving in the United States, another extraordinary moment changed everything. I approached Dr. Noreen Clark in the School of Public Health corridor and asked if she had five minutes. She agreed, and after hearing a brief description of the research I had done in Iran, she asked me to send her my CV. Later that same day, she told me something that completely altered my future: "I will advise your adviser." She then called Cleo from the airport and suggested that I did not need to pursue a PhD but should instead begin a postdoc, after which I would be ready for a faculty position. Her confidence in my potential persuaded Cleo to offer me a postdoctoral position at CRECH.
Unconditional Support That Made the Difference
However, CRECH did not have full funding for the postdoc. Cleo asked Noreen if she would be able to support part of the funding, and she agreed. Then Dr. Marc Zimmerman, our department chair, stepped in and covered the remaining portion of my postdoctoral salary without asking me to take on additional responsibilities. Marc's unconditional support, which he has extended throughout my career, gave me the stability I needed to grow as a scholar.
“Together, these four bold decisions from four faculty members created an opportunity that changed everything.”
Before I even finished my postdoc, I received a faculty offer from Dr. Melvin McInnis in the Department of Psychiatry in 2014. I remained there until moving to UCLA as a visiting faculty member for a year, and then to Charles R. Drew University in 2018. Charles R. Drew University (CDU) is a minority-serving medical school that was originally established following the 1965 Watts uprising after the Rodney King verdict.
A Nontraditional Path to Full Professor
Nearly everything that followed in my career is rooted in the opportunities UM provided. This year, I became a full professor of medicine and public health at Charles R. Drew University. What makes my journey truly unique is that, despite never receiving a U.S.-based doctoral degree, I advanced through academic ranks, earned promotions, and became a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB), the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR), and the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). These distinctions are typically reserved for researchers with long-standing, high-impact scholarly careers. Over the past three years, I have also been listed among the top 2 percent most highly cited researchers in my field worldwide.
Gratitude and Legacy
I am the product of UM's remarkable flexibility, the way an institution can allow a nontraditional scholar to thrive. I remain deeply grateful for the vision and trust that Noreen, Cleo, Marc, and Melvin extended to me. Their willingness to support someone outside the usual path fundamentally changed the course of my life.
I will always carry gratitude for the University of Michigan and for the four individuals who believed in my potential.
P.S. Noreen passed away in November 2013, just before I started my postdoc. Cleo retired in 2023. Marc and Melvin continue to serve at UM. Each of them has remained a friend and supporter, and all wrote letters on my behalf as I moved up to associate and later to full professor. Now, as my daughter Gandom is choosing her own college path, she knows, because of my experience, that you do not dismiss a university because of the weather. She has learned from me that you can always add an extra jacket, but you should never overlook the kind of unique opportunities that a highly flexible institution like UM can offer.
This post was written by Shervin Assari, MD, MPH; Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Charles R. Drew University.