Charles S. Modlin Jr. ’83, ’87 MD

Physician and leader in health equity

Charles S. Modlin Jr. is a urologist and kidney transplant surgeon at MetroHealth, a Cleveland, Ohio-based health system. He also serves as the inaugural director of health equity and medical director of MetroHealth’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, where he develops programs that strengthen an inclusive and diverse culture and promote health equity for all.

From 1993 to 2021, Modlin was a kidney transplant surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, where he also served on the boards of governors, directors, and trustees. In 2003, he launched the clinic’s annual Minority Men’s Health Fair, which has since provided free health screenings, examinations, and education to more than 16,000 men of color. In 2004, he founded the Minority Men’s Health Clinic and Center for Health Equity.

Modlin is a class representative for Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He was a member of Feinberg’s alumni board for three terms between 2007 and 2016. Modlin was also instrumental in establishing the Class of 1987 endowed scholarship campaign to provide tuition support to medical students. He has volunteered for several undergraduate reunions, including as chair of his 25th Reunion and co-chair of his 35th Reunion. He received the University’s inaugural Daniel Hale Williams Humanitarianism in Medicine Award in 2009.

Dedicated to mentoring the next generation, Modlin is the author of It Isn’t Difficult to Do It If You Know How to Do It, which offers career advice and wisdom for high school and college students.

Modlin earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and an MD from Feinberg. He and his wife, Sheryl F. Modlin ’85, ’87 MD, have four children: Charles, Sarah, Meredith, and Hannah.