Regina Benjamin

Regina Benjamin
18th Surgeon General of the United States
In office November 3, 2009 – July 16, 2013
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Donald Weaver (Acting)
Succeeded by	Boris Lushniak (Acting)
Personal details
Born	October 26, 1956 (age 59) Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Xavier University, Louisiana Morehouse College University of Alabama, Birmingham Tulane University
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Awards	USPHS Regular Corps Ribbon
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Public Health Service
Years of service	2009–2013
Rank	Vice Admiral
Unit	USPHS Commissioned Corps

Regina Marcia Benjamin (born October 26, 1956) is an American physician and a former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. Benjamin previously directed a nonprofit primary care medical clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, and served on the Board of Trustees for the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Benjamin was born in Mobile, Alabama on October 26, 1956. She graduated from Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Alabama, and then attended college at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where she was initiated into the Gamma Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She is also a member of the second graduating class of Morehouse School of Medicine. She received her M.D. degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed her residency in family practice at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. About her experience as the first member of her family to attend medical school, she has stated "I had never seen a black doctor before I went to college." After entering solo medical practice in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Benjamin worked for several years in emergency rooms and nursing homes to financially support its mission. After receiving an MBA from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, she converted her office to a rural health clinic.

...
Wikipedia