Smith College Medalist Wendy Brown Dean ’87: ‘Women’s Colleges Are Living Demonstrations of Women’s Potential’

Physician Wendy Brown Dean ’87 is co-founder and CEO of The Moral Injury of Healthcare, a nonprofit focused on alleviating workplace distress among health care and medical professionals caused by overwork and factors that don’t allow them to make independent decisions. “Moral injury,” she maintains, more accurately describes what has been traditionally called “physician burnout,” because “moral injury” signifies that the system is broken—not the individual. Dean is widely published in both academic journals and mass media and is the author of If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why It’s So Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First. Dean also cohosts two podcasts: Moral Matters: Injury of Healthcare and 43cc: The Truth About Healthcare, both of which delve into the state of American health care for practitioners and patients. Here, Dean discusses the need to combat “collective apathy,” the enduring value of women’s colleges, and her best advice for new graduates. 

What is your proudest accomplishment? 
“Watching my sons grow into brilliant, thoughtful, compassionate men who do what’s right, even when it’s hard.”

How has your Smith education continued to impact your life today? 
“Smith let me build an education around my curiosity (i.e., creating my own major). That’s been the driving force in all I do.” 

What advice do you have for seniors looking to enter the medical field? 
“Learning about healing is not enough. You need to learn—deeply—about the landscape your work will be embedded in, how it got that way, and how to advocate for change.”

Do you have any special memories of Rally Day at Smith? 
“I remember Rally Day being the brilliant counterpoint to the solemn reverence of Vespers—the two gatherings that seemed to tie the community together in very different ways. It was a loud, raucous, joyful celebration during the dark days of winter. I also remember being amazed at how many ways the medalists found to contribute and how grateful I was to be part of their (broadly defined) community.”

What does being honored with the Smith Medal mean to you? 
“It is a humbling recognition that good work—maintaining a moral compass in turbulent times—matters, even when it is uncomfortable or unconventional.”

What do you see as major issues today that you would like to see Smithies tackle?
“The issue representing the greatest risk today is collective apathy and indifference. So many issues need the focused attention of brilliant, driven, powerful women that I hope current students and fellow alums pursue any issue that lights a fire in them.”

Why is it critical to support Smith philanthropically? 
“There hasn’t been a time in recent memory when institutions foundational to our values have been more threatened. We must materially support organizations speaking as we cannot, or doing work we deeply believe in.”

How do women’s colleges fit in today’s higher education landscape?
“Women’s colleges are living demonstrations of women’s potential when we mitigate societal bias. Until we erase that bias in society, at large, women’s colleges have a vital role in educating, training, and championing the next generation of powerful women leaders.”

What do you want to tell the class of 2026?
“Sophia Smith envisioned that women, given educational opportunities equal to men, would wield ‘greatly increased’ influence in society and ‘their power for good [would] be incalculably enlarged.’ She knew women can do remarkable things. Follow the curiosity Smith encourages, the rigor it demands, and model the generations of powerful women who walked before you. The world needs your brilliance; make them wish they had sunglasses when you’re around”