#SoCaltech: Bil Clemons

Photo: Van Urfalian for Caltech

“I appreciate that, in this last year that has required a few people to step up, I’m one of the people who’s been asked and is able to have an impact on diversity on campus. When the moment feels urgent, there’s an expectation that things should happen quickly. We have to be wise about giving people space to get involved in these issues, to learn and to make mistakes. It’s easy to get bitter, for those of us who have been in the trenches for a long time. But at the same time, when people come around, they come around, and it’s not about how long it took someone to get here. I’m glad they’re here. The reality is, no institution or person is perfect. We’re all going to fail at these sorts of things. At the institutional level, if we’re going to make lasting changes, we always need to be learning and experimenting in the area of diversity and inclusion. We want to have good hypotheses and for people to be up to speed on the literature, taking the best of what’s known and coming up with uniquely Caltech ways to deal with these problems. After the experiments, we stop and ask, What did we learn? Was the result positive? How can we improve the result? If, at the end of the day, the result was not positive, we need to move on and not take things personally. Finding success needs to be the focus.”

Bil Clemons is professor of biochemistry and has chaired the President's Diversity Council since 2019. He has been a campus leader in discussions and actions regarding improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at Caltech and a mentor to student activists. Recently, Caltech’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion created the Dr. William "Bil" Clemons, Jr. Agent of Change Award in honor of his work in this area; Clemons was the inaugural recipient of that award.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.