Keynote Speaker
The University of Toledo is pleased to feature Dr. David Satcher as the keynote speaker
at our December 2020 commencement.
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician-scientist and public health administrator with an extensive track record of leadership, research, and community engagement. Dr. Satcher served as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States (1998-2002) and the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (1998-2001). He also served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
Dr. Satcher is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and holds an M.D. and Ph.D. degree in cell biology, both from Case Western Reserve University, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed residency/fellowship training at Strong Memorial Hospital at the University of Rochester, the UCLA School of Medicine and the Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Physicians, and is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Satcher has also held top leadership positions at the Charles R. Drew University for Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, and served as President of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee (1982-1993) and Interim President of the Morehouse School of Medicine (2004-2006).
While serving as President of Meharry Medical College, he founded an academic journal entitled the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and he established the Satcher Health Leadership Institute in 2006 at Morehouse School of Medicine with a commitment to eliminate health disparities for minorities, the poor and other disadvantaged people.
He also served as professor and Chair of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at the Morehouse School of Medicine (1979-1982), and as a faculty member at the UCLA School of Medicine where he developed and chaired the King-Drew Department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Satcher has received more than 50 honorary degrees and has received numerous awards from diverse organizations and agencies, including the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal, an honorary doctor of science from Harvard University, and the Jimmy and Rosaylnn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
Currently, Dr. Satcher is the founding director and senior advisor for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.