Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Former U.S. Surgeon General, to Speak at Rutgers
on ‘The Politics of Health Care'

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the 15th Surgeon General of the United States and the first African-American woman to hold that post, will speak on “The Politics of Health Care” at the Douglass Campus Center at 8 p.m. Monday, March 3.

The free public program is sponsored by Rutgers University Student Life.

Born in Arkansas in 1933, Elders never saw a physician before she went to college. The daughter of a sharecropper, she picked cotton with her seven siblings as a child. At 15, she received a scholarship to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock. Upon graduating at 18, she entered the U.S. Army where she received training as a physical therapist. She later attended the University of Arkansas Medical School on the G.I. Bill, earning her medical degree in 1960. She also holds a master’s degree in biochemistry.

In 1987, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton named Elders director of the Arkansas Department of Health. In that post, she aggressively pursued initiatives aimed at reducing teen pregnancy through sex education and more available birth control.

As president, Clinton nominated Elders to be surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service in 1993. During her Senate confirmation hearings, she asserted, “I want to change the way we think about health by putting prevention first. I want to be the voice and vision of the poor and powerless. I want to change concern about social problems that affect health into commitment. And I would like to make every child born in America a wanted child.” As surgeon general, Elders was known for not shying away from such politically sensitive subjects as teen sexuality, abortion and the legalization of drugs.

Elders is now a Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the University of Arkansas School of Public Health and a Distinguished Professor at the Clinton School of Public Policy. She has authored numerous medical journal articles on growth in children and the treatment of hormone-related illnesses.

Among her many honors, Elders was named as one of “100 Outstanding Women in Arkansas,” “Personalities of the South” and “Distinguished Women in America.”   

Rutgers University Student Life is a newly formed department comprising six student centers on five New Brunswick campuses. The department hosts 300 student organizations; universitywide student leadership initiatives; diverse employment opportunities; multicultural initiatives; new student orientation programs; class-year traditions and experiences; community service activities; fraternity and sorority affairs; and student government.

The office encourages students to get involved in all aspects of campus life and take advantage of the wide array of opportunities that help supplement the academic process, foster overall development and prepare them for life beyond the university. Offices for programming, leadership and involvement staff are located in student centers on each campus.