Robert Higgins says the national dialogue around Black Lives Matter underscores the need for addressing these disparities in academic medicine. They also reminded him of events from his past that continue to guide his efforts.

After his physician father died in 1963, his mother moved the 5-year-old Robert and his two younger brothers to upstate New York to live in an apartment with her parents.

Two years later, after Higgins’ grandfather was promoted to legal counsel and regional director of the New York State Commission for Human Rights, the family purchased a house in an all-white neighborhood. Within 24 hours, the home was burned to the ground in what police called “suspicious circumstances.”

Undaunted, the family later bought another house a few blocks away in a desegregated neighborhood, where they lived until Higgins’ grandparents’ deaths. Higgins and his brothers attended military schools, and he earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, his medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine and a master’s degree in health services administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Higgins, now 62, cites other examples of racial discrimination he has experienced: being pulled over in his own neighborhood as a Black man driving a nice car, being mistaken for an environmental services worker by his patients and having his medical opinions questioned by senior nonminority faculty.

Raised with an attitude that keeps him from becoming bitter, he says he tries not to take such incidents personally. His focus remains on serving the patient, performing surgery, running the department and being a leader at Johns Hopkins.

“My brothers and I were taught to be strong and resilient, coached to keep our goals in sight and to work hard to have a positive influence on the world,” Higgins says. “My ultimate goal is to continue to have a big impact here and in future leadership roles. I think I can serve as a role model, and as a mentor or sponsor for those who would benefit from the same kind of support I had.”

Editor’s Note: Robert Higgins left Johns Hopkins Medicine Nov. 30, 2021, to become president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and executive vice president at Mass General Brigham, in Boston.