Peoria, Ill. -- Dr. Charlene Dewey is considered one of the top Track & Field athletes in Bradley history and has excelled in medicine since her graduation in 1986. In this month's Forward Together feature, we take a look at Dewey's career on the Hilltop.
Dewey was a standout Track & Field athlete, excelling in multiple events. She won conference championships in the heptathlon in 1983 and 1986, becoming Bradley's first two-time conference champion in Track & Field history. Dewey's 1983 heptathlon championship was also the first in then-Gateway conference history.
As of 2023, Dewey ranks in the top 10 in eight events in the Bradley record books. She holds the school record for the heptathlon, outdoor high jump and 400-meter hurdles. Dewey ranks second in school history in the 60-meter hurdles, indoor high jump and indoor long jump, third in 110-meter hurdles and fifth in outdoor long jump.
After graduation, Dewey received her M.D. from the Morehouse School of Medicine in 1990. She completed her Residency and Chief Residency in Social Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and earned her Master's in Education from the University of Houston in 2004.
From 1993-2007, Dewey was a faculty member at the Baylor College of Medicine. While at Baylor, Dewey won numerous teaching awards, including three Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. faculty excellence awards, the inaugural Chair of the Academy of Distinguished Educators, the Dean of Medical Education Service Award and was runner-up for Physician of the Year.
Since 2007, she has been a faculty member at Vanderbilt as a Professor of Medical Education and Administration. Dewey is also the past Chair of the Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate and was the first African American to hold that position. She earned the Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Professor Award for 2018-19 at Vanderbilt and has two scholarships honoring her at the institution. Dewey has also won the Vanderbilt 5-Star Award for 100% Patient Satisfaction three times.
Dr. Dewey currently serves on the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic in the Education and Training Working Group. After serving on the American College of Physicians' Physician Well-Being Taskforce and Education Committee, she was elected to the ACP Board of Regents in 2023.
In 2017, Dr. Charlene Dewey received the Orville Nothdurft Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring a former Bradley student-athlete who, through their post-BU days, has achieved success in their chosen profession and has continued to serve in such a manner as to bring honor to themselves, Bradley Athletics in general and the University as a whole. Dewey was also named to the Centurion Society in 2000, the highest honor an alumnus can earn from Bradley.
In recognition of the anniversary signing date of Title IX on June 23, 1972, women significant to the history of Bradley University Athletics representing each of our women's teams and department support areas will be spotlighted on the 23rd of each month. Check out our previous features below.
Press Release: Celebrating Title IX 50 Years
Lydia Moss-Bradley: Paving the Way
Virnette House-Browning and Patty Viverito: Leaving an Impact
Title IX Conversations: Carol Price-Torok
Title IX Conversations: Andrea Gorski
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Lindsay Stalzer
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Caitlin and Kristen Busch
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Nyagon Duany
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Mary Ellen Hill-Schupbach
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Malini Wijesinghe
Celebrating 50 Years of Title IX: Danielle Lemek
