Ernest Clayton Levister, Jr MD, FACP

Dr. Ernest C. Levister is a highly regarded advocate for the underrepresented and for dismantling health care disparities. He practices internal and occupational medicine in San Bernardino and has personally mentored students pursuing careers in medicine, engineering and education. He is a long-time health columnist for the Inland Empire Black Voice News.

His desire to level the playing field propelled him to lead the Vines Medical Society, an affiliate of the National Medical Association. In 2002, the California Legislature mandated changes in the undergraduate science and engineering programs at UC Riverside (UCR), which resulted in the restructuring of the Thomas Haider Biomedical Sciences program and the creation of a four-year medical school at UCR. These changes increased the number of transfers of junior-college students to the university and diversified underrepresented health care professionals. Levister assisted in the creation of programs designed to ensure faculty diversity and the retention and graduation of people of color. He was instrumental in and supported the establishment of the student organization African-Americans United in Science. The Vines Society provided these students with lectures, shadowing and mentoring, a summer medical enrichment program, and funding for MCAT preparation courses. Raised in Harlem, Levister graduated from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, Lafayette College, and the Howard University College of Medicine. He is a trustee of Lincoln University. He is the recipient of awards from the California Medical Association Foundation, the San Bernardino County Medical Society, the San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation, and the California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery. He lives with his wife, Chris, in Arrowhead, California, and has two children, Michelle and Clay.