University Distinguished Professors make unique and highly impactful contributions to OSU, the nation, and the world through their scholarship, creative work, teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students.
2025 University Distinguished Professor
Dr. Melissa Cheyney, University Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medical Anthropology
Uplifting Birth Justice: Imagining More Equitable Reproductive Futures
In this talk, Dr. Cheyney will describe her work with Uplift - a research and reproductive equity laboratory dedicated to exploring the ways community-led research, population data science, and ethnography can be combined to implement more equitable reproductive futures.
Tuesday, 29 April | 3:30 p.m. followed by a reception
Memorial Union Horizon Room
Dr. Cheyney is a professor of clinical medical anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and an international leader in maternal healthcare and midwifery research. She has authored and edited multiple books and over 125 papers and has served as a PI or co-PI on more than 30 grants, including from the NIH, Skyline Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust, and many others. Recently she received a $500,000 gift from Skyline to support her OSU Uplift Lab’s work in community birth excellence, quality and safety. Her outstanding teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels has been recognized with the Thomas R. Meehan Award for undergraduate teaching in the College of Liberal Arts, designation as Eminent Professor in the Honors College, and the university’s Professional Development and Mentoring Award. Her extraordinarily active public engagement is influencing the reform of maternal care in Oregon and the nation, resulting in improved birth outcomes, especially among underserved populations.