Dr. Norman Wang is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a practicing cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
In 2020, Dr. Wang published a paper entitled "Diversity, inclusion, and equity: Evolution of race and ethnicity considerations for the cardiology workforce in the United States of America from 1969 to 2019" in the highly respected, peer-reviewed Journal of the American Heart Association. For that publication, he was fired from his role as the director of the cardiac electrophysiology fellowship training program and continues to be banned from any education role with trainees. He is in the midst of a federal lawsuit, currently at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, pertaining to these events.
For his courage to stand up for medical education and explore what he saw as negative aspects of affirmative action, specifically racial and ethnic preferences, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Dr. Norman Wang with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
