Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello Speaks at Commencement
(Fort Worth, Texas) New York State Health Commissioner Antonia Coello Novello, M.D., Dr.P.H., will be the commencement speaker for the University of North Texas Health Science Center's spring ceremony May 18, 2002.
Dr. Novello heads one of the leading public health agencies in the nation. She is responsible for one of the state's largest agencies, which includes four health care facilities, two regional offices and field offices, nine district offices as well as the central office in Albany.
Prior to being appointed the state's health commissioner, Dr. Novello served as the 14th Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service. She became the first woman and the first Hispanic to ever hold the position. In that role she advised the public on public health matters such as smoking, AIDS, diet and nutrition, and environmental health hazards. She also directed the activities of the 6,100 members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Dr. Novello has also served as the special representative for health and nutrition for the United Nations Children's Fund and has been a visiting professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She was also special director of the university's Community Health Policy program, and provided guidance in the development of the research, service and educational programs relevant to improving the health of poor communities, particularly inner city and urban 'disenfranchised' populations.
Dr. Novello was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.S. in 1965 and an M.D. in 1970. She was a specialist in pediatric nephrology. She began working in public health service in 1978. She received her doctor of public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 2000.
Commencement ceremonies will be held at 2 pm, Saturday, May 18, at Will Rogers Auditorium in the Cultural District of Fort Worth.
This year marks the 29th year that the health science center has granted diplomas. The institution was founded in 1970 as the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and graduated its first physicians in 1974. Today, the University of North Texas Health Science Center is composed of three graduate schools and trains osteopathic physicians, scientists, public health officers, physician assistants and others.
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The University of North Texas Health Science Center is composed of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The center's six Institutes for Discovery conduct leading-edge research on select health issues, including vision, aging, cancer, heart disease, and public health. A 100-member physician group practice, The Physicians & Surgeons Medical Group, manages 190,000 Fort Worth-area patient visits yearly. The institution injects some $244.3 million into Tarrant County and Texas' economies annually.
Media can access additional information by visiting the UNT Health Science Center website at www.hsc.unt.edu.
Media contacts:Kristie Aylett, APR, (817) 735-2553 or pager 1-877-497-0714
Roy Hayhurst, Jr., (817) 735-5152 or pager 817-216-0345email: [email protected]
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