Jabbar R. Bennett

Biography

Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D. (he/him), serves as Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer at Michigan State University (MSU), where he reports directly to the President and is a member of the executive leadership team. In this role he partners with other senior leaders, deans, faculty, staff, students and alumni to fulfill the institution’s public land-grant mission in alignment with its core values. Bennett is also a Professor of Medicine in the College of Human Medicine. 

Prior to joining MSU, Bennett served as the inaugural associate provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Northwestern University. He also worked as Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Dean for Diversity in the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University. In addition, Bennett held administrative appointments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. 

Dr. Bennett received a B.S. in biology and a minor in Spanish from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and earned a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical College. He completed postdoctoral research training in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and is an alumnus of the Harvard University Administrative Fellows Program and the Massachusetts Education Policy Fellowship Program. 

He is a member of various organizations that work to advance the biomedical sciences and health professions workforces including the National Medical Association, and the Student National Medical Association where he is a Life Member and previously served as a Professional Board Member. 

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