Clinton Names Black Medical School President to Head CDC
Dr. David Satcher, president of a historically black medical school, was selected Friday to be the new director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Satcher, 52, a genetics researcher who has headed Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., since 1982, was appointed by President Clinton to head the sprawling federal agency that has a $2-billion annual budget.
Satcher will assume his new duties on Jan. 1. The post does not require Senate confirmation.
“The role of CDC is becoming increasingly crucial for the nation,” Satcher said, citing AIDS, environmental toxins and health problems in inner cities as issues that he will tackle.
A native of Anniston, Ala., Satcher received his undergraduate degree in science from Morehouse College and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former Health and Human Services secretary and president of Morehouse Medical School in Atlanta, said that Satcher, who will be the first black to head the CDC, will help improve the health of minority populations.
Satcher replaces Dr. William Roper, who was asked to resign by the Clinton Administration last spring.
Satcher has spent most of his career in academia, pursuing basic as well as clinical research. His primary interests have been in medical genetics, sickle cell anemia, high blood pressure, cancer and diseases of the elderly.
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