David Satcher David Satcher , M . D . , Ph . D . FAAFP , FACPM , FACP ( born March 2 , 1941 ) is an American physician , and public health administrator . He was a four - star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health , and the 16th Surgeon General of the United States . Biography . Early years . Satcher was born in Anniston , Alabama . At the age of two , he contracted whooping cough . A black doctor , Jackson , came to his parents ' farm , and told his parents he didn ' t expect David to live , but nonetheless spent the day with him , and told his parents how to give him the best chance he could . Satcher said that he grew up hearing that story , and that inspired him to be a doctor . Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1963 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . He received his M . D . and Ph . D . in Cell Biology from Case Western Reserve University in 1970 with election to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society . He completed residency / fellowship training at the Strong Memorial Hospital , University of Rochester , UCLA School of Medicine , and 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 . Satcher pledged Omega Psi Phi fraternity and is an initiate at the Psi Chapter of Morehouse College . Career . Satcher has served as professor and Chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at Morehouse School of Medicine from 1979 to 1982 . He is a former faculty member of the UCLA School of Medicine , the UCLA School of Public Health , and the King - Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles , where he developed and chaired the King - Drew Department of Family Medicine . From 1977 to 1979 , he served as the interim Dean of the Charles R . Drew Postgraduate Medical School , during which time , he negotiated the agreement with UCLA School of Medicine and the Board of Regents that led to a medical education program at King - Drew . He also directed the King - Drew Sickle Cell Research Center for six years . Satcher served as President of Meharry Medical College in Nashville , Tennessee , from 1982 to 1993 . He also held the posts of Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 1993 to 1998 . Surgeon General . Satcher served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 through January 2001 at the US Department of Health and Human Services . As such , he is the first Surgeon General to be appointed as a four - star admiral in the PHSCC , to reflect his dual offices . In his first year as Surgeon General , Satcher released the 1998 Surgeon General ' s report , " Tobacco Use Among U . S . Racial / Ethnic Minority Groups . " In it he reported that tobacco use was on the rise among youth in each of the country ' s major racial and ethnic groups threatening their long - term health prospects . Satcher was appointed by Bill Clinton , and remained Surgeon General until 2002 , contemporaneously with the first half of the first term of President George W . Bush ' s administration . Eve Slater would later replace him as Assistant Secretary for Health in 2001 . Because he no longer held his dual office , Satcher was reverted and downgraded to the grade of vice admiral in the regular corps for the remainder of his term as Surgeon General . In 2001 , his office released the report , " The Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior " . The report was hailed by the chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians as an overdue paradigm shift — " The only way we ' re going to change approaches to sexual behavior and sexual activity is through school . In school , not only at the doctor ' s office . " However , conservative political groups denounced the report as being too permissive towards homosexuality and condom distribution in schools . When Satcher left office , he was allowed to retire with his four - star grade of admiral . Post - Surgeon General . Upon his departure from the post , Satcher became a fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation . In the fall of 2002 , he assumed the post of Director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine . On December 20 , 2004 , Satcher was named interim president at Morehouse School of Medicine until John E . Maupin , Jr . , former president of Meharry Medical College assumed the current position on February 26 , 2006 . In June 2006 , Satcher established the Satcher Health Leadership Institute ( SHLI ) at Morehouse School of Medicine as a natural extension of his experiences improving public health policy for all Americans and his commitment to eliminating health disparities for minorities , the poor , and other disadvantaged groups . He now sits on the board of Johnson & Johnson and MetLife . Criticisms of health inequality . While acknowledging progress , Satcher has criticized health disparities . He asked the question , “ What if we had eliminated disparities in health in the last century ? ” and calculated that there would have been 83 , 500 fewer black deaths in the year 2000 . That would have included 24 , 000 fewer black deaths from cardiovascular disease . If infant mortality had been equal across racial and ethnic groups in 2000 , 4 , 700 fewer black infants would have died in their first year of life . Without disparities , there would have been 22 , 000 fewer black deaths from diabetes and almost 2 , 000 fewer black women would have died from breast cancer ; 250 , 000 fewer blacks would have been infected with HIV / AIDS and 7 , 000 fewer blacks would have died from complications due to AIDS in 2000 . As many as 2 . 5 million additional blacks , including 650 , 000 children , would have had health insurance in that year . He called on people to work for solutions at the individual , community , and policy level . Satcher supports a Medicare - for - all style single payer health plan , in which insurance companies would be eliminated and the government would pay health care costs directly to doctors , hospitals and other providers through the tax system . At Meharry , Satcher founded the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved . Awards and honors . He is the recipient of many honorary degrees and numerous distinguished honors , including the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal , the 2013 UC Berkeley School of Public Health Public Health Heroes Award , an honorary Doctor of Science from Harvard University ( 2011 ) , and top awards from the American Medical Association , the American College of Physicians , the American Academy of Family Physicians , and Ebony magazine . In 1995 , he received the Breslow Award in Public Health and in 1997 the New York Academy of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award . In 2004 , he received the Benjamin E . Mays Trailblazer Award and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases . An academic society at the Case Western School of Medicine is named in Dr . Satcher ' s honor , and , in 2009 , he delivered the university ' s Commencement Address .