Derrick Tabor - Distinguished Alumni Award - College of Science, Engineering & Technology

Detroit native Derrick Tabor was recruited to SVSU as a part of the university’s ’70s initiative and was very active on campus. After obtaining a doctorate from the University of North Carolina in Organic Chemistry with Dr. Slayton A. Evans, Jr., Tabor conducted postdoctoral training at UNC-CH and at the Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, University of Southern California. At Loker, he studied with Dr. George Olah, Nobel Laureate in chemistry. Tabor subsequently served as a research chemist at Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories and co-authored two U.S. patents. He then moved on to conduct independent research as a faculty member and department chair at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, Tabor became a program director in the Minority Opportunity Research Division at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Tabor finished his career in 2021 at the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, under the National Institutes of Health. As a program director in the Division of Scientific Programs, Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Tabor managed a diverse portfolio of research, capacity building and training grants. He was the scientific contact for funding opportunity announcements related to racism, discrimination, minority men, medical adherence, nutrition, food insecurity and small businesses. He was also a program director for the Research Centers at Minority Institutions.

Derrick has fostered collaborations and partnerships to promote and support evidence-based science to inform practice and public policy. He has contributed to numerous publications related to his research; most importantly, Tabor worked toward addressing the challenge in reducing the disparity in health status of racial and ethnic minority, rural, low-income and other underserved U.S. populations.