Dr. Fernando Sanchez Mendoza is a Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean of Minority Advising and Programs at Stanford University School of Medicine. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1981 and became a Dean for Minority Advising and Program in 1983.  From 1996 to 2014, he was the Division and Service Chief for General Pediatrics at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Dr. Mendoza’s academic career has been focused on Latino child health and workforce diversity. He has published numerous articles and chapters on the health of Latino and immigrant children, addressing issues of health care access, obesity, chronic disease, and childhood development. In workforce diversity, he has been the principal investigator of the HRSA Center of Excellence grant at Stanford School of Medicine for twenty years, developing pipeline, leadership, and faculty development programs. He published the first national study of diversity in departments of pediatrics, which demonstrated the underrepresentation of Latinos in pediatrics, and the need for Latino pediatric faculty and leaders.

As a leader in health disparities, Dr. Mendoza helped establish two local FQHC community clinics, was President of the Hispanic Serving Health Professions School, served on NIH and Institute of Medicine committees, and was recently appointed to the National Advisory Council for the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.  He has received regional and national recognition for his work from the California Latino Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Hispanic Business Magazine, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Latino Medical Student Association. For his work in diversity, he has received the AAMC GSA-Minority Affairs Service Award, and Stanford’s JE Wallace Sterling “Muleshoe” Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, the President’s Award for Excellence through Diversity, and the Dr. Augustus A. White Faculty Professionalism Award.