Cleveland Clinic Welcomes Keynote Speaker Johnnetta Cole, Ph.D., at 25th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration

Cleveland Clinic employees and community leaders will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, as part of Cleveland Clinic’s 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Johnnetta Cole, Ph.D., former president of Spelman College and Bennett College for Women, and current director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

Calvin D. Williams, Cleveland Chief of Police, will receive the Lifetime of Service Award, Cleveland Clinic’s highest community honor.

“Chief Williams is a pillar of our community, and I am pleased to recognize his extraordinary leadership of the Cleveland Division of Police,” said Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Toby Cosgrove, M.D. “We are proud to work with the City of Cleveland on initiatives to promote health, wellness and safety.”

The program begins at 7 a.m. with an interfaith prayer service for invited guests and media in the InterContinental Hotel and Bank of America Conference Center, 9801 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland. The Rev. Todd Davidson, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, will speak at the ecumenical worship.

The community breakfast program will begin at 7:45 a.m. at the InterContinental Hotel and Bank of America Conference Center. The program includes a keynote address from Cole and the award presentation to Chief Williams.

Chief Williams was appointed to the Division of Police in February of 1986. In 1989, he was assigned to the SWAT Unit where he served for nine years. Chief Williams was promoted in 1997 to sergeant and became the SWAT Unit supervisor, a position he held for two years. He also has served as the supervisor of the Vice Unit and the Fugitive Unit.

In 2005, Chief Williams became the Cleveland Police Liaison to the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force and was promoted to Commander of the Third District in 2006. In 2011, he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Field Operations where he was responsible for the oversight, management and efficiency of the five Neighborhood Police Districts, the Bureau of Community Policing, the Bureau of Traffic and the Office of Special Events for the Division.

Chief Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in public safety management from Cleveland State University.

In 1987, Cole made history when she became the first African-American woman to serve as president of Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. She also served as president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. Cole is the only person to have served as president of these two historically black colleges for women.

Cole was appointed the Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in 2009. The museum’s collection of more than 12,000 objects represents nearly every area of Africa and contains a variety of media and art forms. Cole recently announced that she will retire from the Smithsonian in the spring of this year.

From 2004 to 2006, Cole was the Chair of the Board of the United Way of America, the first African-American to serve in that position. She holds 69 honorary degrees, numerous awards, and has served on several corporate boards.

Cole is a graduate of Oberlin College. She holds master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology from Northwestern University with a focus on African studies.

Cleveland Clinic’s 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration also will include recognition of hospital employees who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the community.