Dr. Marlys Witte, MD is a long standing faculty member in the College of Medicine, Department of Surgery. During her career she has mentored hundreds of students supported by a continuous sequence of NIH multi-institute training grants acquired since 1982. These NIH research pipeline/ training grants, an earlier federally funded nationwide “Women in Medical Academia” project organized in the mid-1970's, and service reflect a long-standing commitment to leadership training, equity, diversity, and disadvantaged populations including but not limited to underrepresented ethnic minorities, women, and the disabled. Her educational activities have an overlying theme of “medical ignorance” – “what we know we don’t know, don’t know we don’t know, and think we know but don’t,” which aims to nurture “curiosity” (an “addiction” to ignorance/ unanswered questions-unquestioned answers).