The School of Medicine's 1998 Dean's Distinguished Lecture will be given by David Satcher, assistant secretary for health and U.S. surgeon general, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 in the Blue Auditorium of Scott Hall.

The focus of his address is "Toward the Elimination of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health: Challenges and Opportunities." This year's Dean's Distinguished Lecture is part of weeklong series of university events commemorating the inauguration of Irvin D. Reid as WSU's ninth president.

Satcher was sworn in Feb. 13 as both surgeon general and assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He is the 16th surgeon general and the first African-American man to hold the post. The surgeon general holds the rank of four-star admiral and has one of the most visible positions in government from which to advocate healthy behaviors.

In his HHS role, Satcher leads the Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) at a time when this country's major national health issues include reducing teenage smoking; health care reform; promoting public health through healthcare reform; ensuring universal access; ensuring quality; containing rapidly rising costs and addressing payment means; and increasing childhood immunization rates. Satcher directs the OPHS programs that contribute to virtually all those objectives.

Satcher formerly directed HHS's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 1993 to 1997. As CDC director, he distinguished himself as a leading health care advocate.

Satcher spearheaded initiatives that increased childhood immunization rates, upgraded the nation's ability to respond to emerging infectious diseases and laid the groundwork for a new early warning system to detect and prevent food-borne illnesses.

Before joining CDC, Satcher served as president of Meharry Medical College from 1982 to 1993. He also is a former professor and chairman of community medicine and family practice at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and former faculty member of the UCLA School of Medicine and the King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Satcher graduated from Morehouse College in 1963, and then went on to earn his M.D. and doctoral degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1970.