Silas Norman Jr., M.D.
Silas Norman Jr., M.D., Class of 1976, was a longtime member of the faculty, and a driving force for diversity, fairness and compassion at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Dr. Norman grew up in Augusta, Ga., in the shadows of Paine College, where he vowed as a child he would attend one day. He fulfilled this vow, and went on to become one of the most powerful chairmen of the Paine College Board of Trustees in its more than 100-year history. As a student, he was a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He faced many dangers as SNCC state coordinator while convincing sharecropping African Americans in Alabama to register to vote.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences from Paine College, Dr. Norman entered the Wayne State University Post Baccalaureate Program and matriculated into the WSU School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Detroit General Hospital.
Dr. Norman was among the first African Americans to join the WSU full-time faculty, when he became a member of the Department of Internal Medicine. He joined the State of Michigan Prison System as a physician and delivered the highest standards of care to inmates and staff alike. A medical suite at the State Prison of Southern Michigan in Jackson is named after Dr. Norman, who served as the facility’s medical director. His commitment to social and humanistic medicine also led him to serve as chief medical officer for the Michigan Department of Corrections and medical director for Wayne County Jails.
Dr. Norman was appointed assistant dean for Admissions in 2003, and associate dean for Admissions, Diversity and Inclusion in 2010, a position he held until his death in 2015. He also served as a consultant to the Detroit Health Care for the Homeless project and the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion, working to see that thousands of uninsured and underserved people received much-needed health care. He was chair of the Detroit-based Community Health Awareness Group Inc., an organization dedicated to supporting individuals affected and infected with HIV and AIDS.
In 2000, Dr. Norman received the Alumni Achievement Award from the United Negro College Fund. That same year the Wayne State University Organization of Black Alumni selected him for its Alumni Achievement Award, and the Michigan Department of Community Health presented him with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Vision Award.
He received the School of Medicine's Trailblazer Award in 2010. The award honors outstanding alumni and faculty who have made substantial contributions and demonstrated courage, initiative, innovation, risk-taking and leadership. During the 2011 commencement ceremony, Dr. Norman received the Distinguished Service Award for his work in diversity, his fairness and his compassion for the underserved. In 2012, he was named a Detroit Everyday Hero by Verizon Wireless, which partnered with 100 Black Men of Greater Detroit and the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan. In 2013, he received a Special Recognition Award from the Post Baccalaureate Program/Black Medical Association Alumni Steering Committee for his many years of dedication and service to those programs and the school.