Satcher background

Contact: George Stamatis, 216-368-3635, gxs18@po.cwru.edu

Posted 9/16/97

David Satcher was first African-American M.D./Ph.D. graduate of CWRU School of Medicine

Nominated for Surgeon General

David Satcher, who was nominated September 12 for the positions of Surgeon General and assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, was the first African-American to receive both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He received his degrees in 1970.

"Satcher is an outstanding physician and humanitarian," said Nathan A. Berger, vice president for medical affairs and dean of CWRU's medical school. "He is also an excellent example of CWRU's commitment to providing training opportunities for minorities to enter the practice of medicine and to developing the leaders of American medicine."

Nobel laureate Frederick C. Robbins, who was dean when Satcher was a student and who has served as his mentor, said, "David is extremely well-trained in medicine, and he has a very strong orientation towards public health and the welfare of those less fortunate. What I especially like about David Satcher, though, is that he is a fine human being."

Satcher is currently the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. As CDC director, he is in charge of the primary governmental agency concerned with public health. With an annual budget of more than $2.5 billion, the CDC has six centers, four programs offices, and one institute staffed by more than 7,000 people. Dedicated to meeting the changing and increasingly complex health needs of the nation, the CDC's primary focus is a healthy world through prevention.

At the time of his appointment to the CDC post, Donna E. Shalala, secretary of the Department of Health and Human services (CDC's parent organization), stated, "David Satcher brings world-class professional stature, management skills, integrity, and preventive healthcare experience to his job."

Throughout Satcher's career, he has been a strong supporter of the School of Medicine, which honored him with a special award in 1986. The Medical Alumni Association Board of Trustees also selected him for the 1995 Special Board of Trustees Service Award. Among his activities have been five years (1980-85) as a member of the CWRU Board of Trustees, School of Medicine commencement speaker in 1990, Alpha Omega Alpha medical honorary society speaker in 1993, and participant in several programs including those related to his specialty of hypertension. At University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Douglas-Satcher Clerkship is named in honor of Satcher and Janice Douglas, professor of medicine.

A graduate of Morehouse College, Satcher completed his combined degree at CWRU, then did an internship in medicine/pediatrics (1970-72) and residency in pediatrics (1971-72) at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. After two years as an associate professor in community medicine and director of the Community Outreach Hypertension Program at the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School in Los Angeles, Satcher headed to the University of California at Los Angeles for two years as an assistant professor in epidemiology and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and senior family practice resident.

From 1976-79, he was professor and chairman of family medicine and acting dean at Drew. For the next three years, he was chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at Morehouse College of Medicine. In 1982, he accepted the challenge of becoming the eighth president of Meharry Medical College, which has trained 40 percent of the nation's black doctors and dentists. Satcher retained the Meharry post until 1993, when he assumed the CDC directorship.

The author or co-author of more than 35 publications, Satcher is a member of many professional organizations, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the Board of Directors of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and a fellow in the Academy of Family Physicians. He holds an honorary D.Sc. from the Medical College of Pennsylvania.