For Immediate Release
May 10, 2000
Contact: Rosalia Scalia
410/706-7946
Pager: 410/471-8647
[email protected]
US Surgeon General To Deliver Commencement Address
Sworn in two years ago as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States, David Satcher, MD, PhD, is only the second person to simultaneously hold the positions of Assistant Secretary for Health in addition to Surgeon General. In these dual roles, Satcher serves as the Secretary's senior advisor on public health matters and as director of the Office of Public Health and Science. Satcher will address the 1,800 candidates for professional degrees from the schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, social work, the Dental School and the Graduate School when he delivers University of Maryland Baltimore's Commencement Address on Friday, May 26, at 3 p.m. at the Baltimore Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St.. Also during the ceremony, the University, which educates the majority of the state's health and human service professionals, will confer honorary degrees on State Sen. Barbara Hoffman and State Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings.
Prior to his appointment as Surgeon General, Satcher was the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator for the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Appointed by President Clinton, during his four years at CDC, Satcher spearheaded a number of critically important initiatives, including increasing childhood immunization rates by 23 percent, upgrading the nation's capability for responding to emerging infectious diseases and establishing the groundwork for a new early warning system for detecting and preventing food-borne illnesses. In addition, while at CDC, Satcher expanded breast and cervical cancer screening, increasing coverage to all 50 states from 18, to all five territories and 15 Native American reservations.
Before joining the Clinton Administration, Satcher was president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, from 1982 to 1993 and served as professor and chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at Morehouse School of Medicine from1979 to 1982. He is a former faculty member of the UCLA School of Medicine and Public Health and the King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he developed and chaired the King-Drew Department of Family Medicine.
A former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and Macy Faculty Fellow, Satcher is the recipient of 18 honorary degrees and numerous distinguished honors, including top awards from the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians and Ebony magazine.
Satcher earned his bachelor's from Morehouse College in 1963 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his medical degree and a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University in 1970 with election to Alpha Omega Honor Society. He did residency/fellowship training at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, UCLA and King-Drew. A fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Physicians, Satcher would like to be known as the Surgeon General who listens to the American people and responds with effective programs. His mission is to make public health work for all groups and champions healthy lifestyles.
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