November 1, 2001
Former surgeon general will speak at Pediatric Grand Rounds on Thursday
By Claire Dietz
HS News & Community Relations
Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general in the first Clinton administration, will be in Seattle next week to present the UW Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds and speak to local women physicians.
Elders, now professor emeritus of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine, retired from regular teaching duties there in 1998. She continues to speak widely and participate in several national advisory committees.
At the UW, Elders will speak from 8 to 9 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 8, in Wright Auditorium at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. Her topic is “Health Care for Children in the 21st Century.” The presentation, which is part of the regular Pediatric Grand Rounds series, is open to everyone.
While in Seattle, Elders will also speak Wednesday evening to a gathering of the Puget Sound Women’s Pediatric Society.
A native of Schaal, Ark., Elders is the oldest of eight children and never saw a physician before her first year in college. At 15, she received a scholarship from the United Methodist Church to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. After graduating, she entered the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant and received training as a physical therapist. She attended the University of Arkansas Medical School on the G.I. Bill.
After earning an M.D. in 1960, she interned at the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis and completed a pediatric residency at the University of Arkansas Medical Center in Little Rock. She also earned a master’s degree in biochemistry.
She joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1976 as a professor of pediatrics, and was board-certified as a pediatric endocrinologist in 1978. She has written more than 150 articles based on her studies of growth in children and treatment of hormone-related illnesses.
In 1987, then Gov. Bill Clinton named her director of the Arkansas Department of Health, a post she held until her nomination as surgeon general. She was elected president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers in 1992. She has been active in Little Rock civic and health affairs, as well as nationally, and has received numerous awards and honorary degrees for her professional and civic work.
She is the author of three books, including “Joycelyn Elders, M.D.: From Sharecropper’s Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America.”
