Marjorie Speers '78
Marjorie Speers '78 enrolled at Dickinson at age 23, intent on becoming a scientist in an era when few women entered the field. She graduated with honors in 2-1/2 years.
After earning a Ph.D. in psychology and epidemiology at Yale University and teaching briefly at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Speers entered public service as an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). As the CDC's deputy associate director for science, Speers oversaw national and international human subject protections. She also was acting executive director of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
During her 12 years as founding president and CEO of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (MHRPP), the MHRPP became the nation's sole accrediting body-and the international accrediting body of choice-for research involving humans. Speers then served as CEO for Clinical Research Pathways, a nonprofit working to include minority populations in clinical research. She retired in 2020.
Speers is an emerita Dickinson trustee, a member of the Mermaid and John Dickinson Societies and a recipient of Dickinson's 2013 Outstanding Reunion Volunteer Award. In 2003, she established a need-based Dickinson scholarship; priority is given to nontraditional students and students with unique circumstances.
