Building on the impact of their initial gift, the family of the late pioneering cardiac surgeon Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. has committed an additional $500,000 to the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute at Tennessee State University.
The new contribution brings the family’s total investment in the institute to $1 million, securing an enduring academic pipeline for underrepresented students pursuing careers in medicine, dentistry, and other healthcare professions.
The announcement was made Friday during a ceremony at TSU’s Avon Williams campus, where university leaders, faculty, students and family members gathered to celebrate the program’s growth. The presentation was led by Dr. Annie Marie Watkins Garraway, sister of the late surgeon, alongside Dr. George Pruitt, former president of Thomas Edison State University and cousin of Dr. Watkins.
TSU President Dwayne Tucker expressed appreciation to the family for anchoring the late surgeon’s legacy at his alma mater.
“Thank you for your generosity, your trust, and for continuing to choose TSU when a legacy like Dr. Watkins’ could be honored anywhere,” Tucker said. “His legacy belongs here. It is about placing possibility in front of students, who then get to see themselves as physicians, scientists, and healthcare innovators.”
Now in its sixth year, the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute operates an Accelerated Pathway Program designed to prepare high-achieving undergraduate students for professional medical education. Qualified students complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at TSU in three years instead of four. Admission requires a minimum cumulative 3.50 GPA and strong standardized test scores, with incoming cohorts having a 28 ACT and 1310 SAT.
Upon graduation, scholars matriculate into partner institutions to earn M.D. or D.D.S. degrees, including Meharry Medical College, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Jefferson University, and the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University. Twenty-five of the graduates of the program have also advanced to professional training at Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The institute also supports an upper class man division preparing students for graduate entrance examinations, which is expected to enroll approximately 100 students following its White Coat Ceremony on Oct. 15.
Dr. Watkins, a TSU alumnus, achieved national prominence as the first surgeon to successfully implant an automatic implantable cardiovascular-defibrillator in a human patient. During his undergraduate years as Student Government Association president, he advocated for greater recognition of TSU’s academic programs, an effort that helped launch the university’s honors program.
Dr. Garraway said the family decided to expand their financial support after observing the program’s tangible outcomes.
“We just thought that maybe this was the best place for another contribution,” Garraway said. “That’s how that happened, just seeing the results and just wanting to do anything that we can. His connection to Tennessee State was enduring. It was constant.”
Barbara Murrell, founding chair of the institute and long-time colleague of Dr. Watkins, established the program following his passing in 2015.
“Out of that vision came a major program at Tennessee State University designed to prepare students for careers in medicine, dentistry and other areas of health care,” Murrell said. “These students come to us with a yearning for knowledge and the opportunity to be successful.” She presented a five-year report documenting the success of the program.
Student leaders also reflected on the legacy behind their scholarships. Kagan Word, a member of Cohort 4, noted that Dr. Watkins carried a torch from TSU to Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins.
“Today, that torch is in our hands,” Word said. “Every time a Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Scholar enters a laboratory, serves a community, receives a medical school acceptance, or puts on a white coat, the torch moves forward.”
Lalita Hodge, program coordinator for the institute, detailed the program’s long-term vision and ongoing expansion during the event.
The event concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. AI Healthcare Innovation Lab inside TSU’s SMART Innovation Technology Center. Dr. Robbie Melton, vice president of SMART AI and Applied Technology, led the presentation on the facility, which provides scholars access to advanced artificial intelligence tools for medical research.
