PALS - Othelia W. Pryor

Othelia W. Pryor received a PhD from Michigan State University in Measurement and Quantitative Methods, a MBA in Finance from the University of Illinois and a BS in Business from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a faculty member in the College of Engineering at Michigan State University.

Dr. Pryor is the Executive Director of “Without A Vision The People Perish,” a community health project. This program encourages community members, churches, Afro-centric charter schools, and grass roots organizations to form partnerships with University researchers, local and state health agencies and national foundations to address the preventable deaths of African Americans from cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Pryor is also the founder and Executive Director of the Michigan Minority Health Coalition (MMHC), a statewide advocacy consortium dedicated to developing strategies, creating partnerships and influencing public policy initiatives that will improve the health status of Michigan's ethnic and racial minority populations. MMHC’s mission is to,

“Improve access to minority health interventions and initiatives by increasing community partnerships, providing a persistent and continuing focus on minority health issues and eliminating disparities among Michigan's racial and ethnic populations.”

The MMHC was instrumental in the passage of PA 653, Michigan’s Health Disparity Bill and a major supporter of the Health Disparities Reduction and Minority Health Section, formerly know as Michigan’s Office of Minority Health.

Dr. Pryor’s interests include investigating issues surrounding health disparities among minority and underserved populations, the impact of cultural competency on health initiatives, developing health initiatives for faith-based communities and grooming the next generation of young people to advocate for the health of minority populations.

The elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities is a long-standing, complex behavioral and social issue requiring the utilization of a broad-based approach across all racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Pryor’s work has been instrumental in advocating for these issues..