A reflection in photos: Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration 2019
![Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration 2019](/ctplus/asset/2ac4a214-d8db-4752-92bd-711e9948cd7c/mlk19-event-header.jpg)
Students, faculty, and staff gathered on South Campus on Jan. 24 for UTSW’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Hannah Valantine, NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity.
View the photo gallery below, and see these related stories: UTSW event honors legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Three UTSW students receive MLK community service scholarships.
Select an image to begin the slideshow.
![Dr. Shawna Nesbitt gives opening remarks at the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration.](/ctplus/asset/915eac11-67b6-4b8d-b320-6f178b20496b/mlk19-1.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine and Dr. Shawna Nesbitt share an embrace.](/ctplus/asset/eee1e522-5ffa-4ef8-9b65-98d26c30921f/mlk19-10.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Program attendees were charmed by Dr. Valantine.](/ctplus/asset/9292e91f-dfc8-48ba-a3fe-761313d9ed08/mlk19-11.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![The audience enjoys Dr. Valantine’s stories.](/ctplus/asset/7e39a0ce-ea91-4f2f-806a-16ee0d35e823/mlk19-12.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![City of Dallas Chief of Staff Kimberly Tolbert (in foreground) visits UTSW for the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration.](/ctplus/asset/537567d0-e5d4-4a5c-841d-f3ef2066bfe8/mlk19-13.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine speaks to the UTSW community about racial disparities in medicine.](/ctplus/asset/52c50b47-c8ea-4960-bfdf-e32549802b52/mlk19-14.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine is the first Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).](/ctplus/asset/03608769-b624-46d5-ba25-eacc13bd82ed/mlk19-15.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![The program for the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration](/ctplus/asset/34839029-7726-4384-bf9a-669c1639be95/mlk19-16.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Valantine explains a study that asked participants to guess who they thought was more likely to be a scientist.](/ctplus/asset/20e6dc1e-9bf0-4cbe-b12e-e5f4942d58e7/mlk19-17.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Applause was abundant during the event.](/ctplus/asset/cd955663-755a-450f-bd87-64d0aaa012a9/mlk19-18.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Podolsky, Dr. Valantine, MLK Scholarship finalist Thanos Rossopoulos, and Dr. Drew Alexander](/ctplus/asset/39493275-41cc-433c-9d25-915f8e644368/mlk19-19.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![UTSW student Rudy Fernandez-Criado sings](/ctplus/asset/046c2b79-8ce0-4858-993b-6d9038f8f5b6/mlk19-2.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Priya Mathew receives the MLK Scholarship award from Dr. Podolsky.](/ctplus/asset/262fc69d-71cf-4a87-9477-e8a6299a430b/mlk19-21.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Audience members enjoying the day's program.](/ctplus/asset/80af7fff-4a18-4d10-858e-7ea16fc1b984/mlk19-22.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Audience members at the MLK ceremony](/ctplus/asset/cd4994f3-2b51-4999-bcdb-4892afb2fce8/mlk19-23.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Marc Nivet and Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa enjoy a laugh.](/ctplus/asset/f25426e1-1299-43c7-b3ce-45de09329b6d/mlk19-24.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Podolsky, MLK scholarship winner Priya Mathew, Dr. Hannah Valantine, MLK scholarship finalist Thanos Rossopoulos, and Dr. Marc Nivet](/ctplus/asset/aa3b6c9b-4c4a-43a5-9a5a-0fd15c65f776/mlk19-25.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Drs. Shawna Nesbitt and Hannah Valantine](/ctplus/asset/b9a0b57e-e3ed-4ea9-af90-f12145093aa8/mlk19-26.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Priya Mathew with her father, Dr. Roy Mathew](/ctplus/asset/609f73ba-7716-453f-892c-e7e6607a69ec/mlk19-27.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dawn Cureton embraces MLK Scholarship recipient Priya Mathew.](/ctplus/asset/2c460320-0053-4178-9b86-a643e9d2fabc/mlk19-28.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Ruben Esquivel, Dallas City Councilman Kevin Felder, Dr. Marc Nivet, Dr. Drew Alexander](/ctplus/asset/01ae87fd-ea6f-40cd-9571-becdabf1685e/mlk19-29.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Ruben Esquivel, Rudy Rodriguez, Norma Carillo, Dr. Hannah Valantine, Judith Ramos, and Melody Bell](/ctplus/asset/9b705f4b-ad7a-4fe4-8a2b-cf80122d759b/mlk19-32.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Valantine with Dallas City Councilman Kevin Felder](/ctplus/asset/9cf42d19-63a7-4e43-aab1-84c664a9bb15/mlk19-33.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![After the program, employees enjoyed themselves at a tasty reception.](/ctplus/asset/3e929b88-0770-4638-b88f-b1fc19bebabd/mlk19-34.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Employees enjoyed savory bites at the reception.](/ctplus/asset/f4a8edc7-249c-4ab6-8a8a-1ab31fc94e3f/mlk19-35.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine chats with an employee at the program’s reception.](/ctplus/asset/700be281-382e-44fc-9e8d-3d3590298515/mlk19-36.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine is all smiles.](/ctplus/asset/235dcd15-76dc-46c7-98d9-7f8abb015a0d/mlk19-37.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine](/ctplus/asset/f802f04e-4406-4a0d-ac88-c6105d732e14/mlk19-38.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![A decorative touch for a beautiful event](/ctplus/asset/813d4da8-f980-45fe-ab20-773c2e28268f/mlk19-39.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![The event ended with a thunderous applause from the audience.](/ctplus/asset/3fc86b7d-d6dc-40af-9162-b8028c87f6d2/mlk19-4.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Podolsky speaks to the program attendees.](/ctplus/asset/d847c6c6-ccd9-4011-b428-c6d4777ab211/mlk19-5.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Shawna Nesbitt, Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion](/ctplus/asset/feaa8b4d-57d8-45d8-9047-650117dce3ca/mlk19-7.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valantine looks on as she is introduced as the keynote speaker.](/ctplus/asset/e13d6546-5b8d-4a0d-a410-05072e72e12b/mlk19-8.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Hannah Valentine](/ctplus/asset/cb780070-478b-4ac5-bff2-7f25fdbd824c/mlk19-9.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![The event provided quite a few photo opportunities.](/ctplus/asset/d6e896b8-1fdd-415a-92e8-0f771e2434b7/mlk19.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Employees got to indulge their sweet tooth at the reception.](/ctplus/asset/423e83d9-ae70-42d2-a081-6e44b0f6ecae/mlk19-40.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)
![Dr. Drew Alexander, Dr. Carol Podolsky, Dr. Alecia Nero and Dr. Donald Glass](/ctplus/asset/9453ab1a-1cba-49ff-a5e6-6cd1c616b8f0/mlk19-41.jpg?rendition=rendition-x180)