Oct. 29, 2009

Mobile native Regina Benjamin became the 18^th U.S. surgeon general after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. A graduate of the UAB School of Medicine, Benjamin dedicated her professional life to providing medical care for the community of Bayou La Batre in Mobile County. She was nominated for the office of surgeon general by President Barack Obama and is one of three Alabamians to hold the position, with Luther Terry and David Satcher. Benjamin has received many awards for her work, including the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the papal cross from Pope Benedict XVI and the “Genius Grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Official portrait of U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, 2009. (Office of the Surgeon General of the United States, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Wikipedia)

Portrait of U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, 2011. (U.S. Mission Geneva, Wikipedia)

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is a rural health expert whose accolades include selection as one of Time magazine’s “Fifty Future Leaders under 40” in 1994, and the Caring Institute’s National Caring Award in 2000. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.