Jocelyn Elders, M.D.
Former Surgeon General
United States Government

Confirmed as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States on September 7, 1993, Joycelyn Elders (born 1933) was the first African American and only the second female to head up the U.S. Public Health Service. In her brief 15-month tenure, Elders added tobacco use, national health care, and drug and alcohol abuse to her platform.

In 1987 Governor Bill Clinton appointed Elders Director of the Arkansas Department of Health. Her accomplishments in this position included a tenfold increase in the number of early childhood screenings annually and almost a doubling of the immunization rate for two-year-olds in Arkansas. In 1992, she was elected President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.

In 1993 after Clinton was elected president, he appointed her United States Surgeon General, making her the first African American, and the second woman, to hold the position (Antonia Novello was the first). As surgeon general, Elders quickly established a reputation for controversy. Like many of the surgeons general before her, she was an outspoken advocate of a variety of health-related causes, some of which were quite unconventional. She argued for an exploration of the possibility of drug legalization, and she was a strong backer of President Clinton's plan for national health care.

In 1994, she was invited to speak at a United Nations conference on AIDS. She was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity, and she replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught." This remark caused great controversy, especially among conservative Christian groups and right wing interests in the United States. President Clinton asked for her resignation. In her brief 15-month tenure, Elders added tobacco use, national health care, and drug and alcohol abuse to her platform.

Since leaving her post as surgeon general, she has returned to the University of Arkansas Medical Center as professor of pediatrics. She is also a regular on the lecture circuit, speaking on issues related to AIDS and teen pregnancy.