VIVIAN W. PINN is the first full-time Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an appointment she has held since 1991. In 1994, she was also named Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health (NIH). She came to the NIH from Howard University College of Medicine where she had been Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology since 1982. In this position, she became the third woman to chair an academic department of Pathology in the U.S. She had previously held appointments at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School. She earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and received her M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She also served as the 88th President of the National Medical Association (and second woman president) during 1989-1990.