Pedro José Greer Jr. (born June 15, 1956, in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida) is an American physician of Cuban descent. He is Founding Dean for the Roseman University Health Sciences College of Medicine. He was awarded a MacArthur "genius grant" in 1993, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, and the Great Floridian Award in 2013. He has been a board member of the American charity for the homeless,

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.Comic Relief Website, http://comicrelief.org

Early life and career

Born to parents who emigrated from Cuba, Greer graduated from Christopher Columbus High School, and then from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

with a BS in chemistry in 1978. In 1984, he earned his MD from the

Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra The Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra ''(Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University)'', named after Pope John XXIII's encyclical ''Mater et magistra'', which means ''Mother and Teacher'', (PUCMM for its Spanish acronym), i ...

. He specialized in

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

and hepatology during his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital. His 1999 autobiography is ''Waking Up in America: How One Doctor Brings Hope to Those Who Need It Most.'' He has a joint practice with his father, Dr. Pedro Greer Sr. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and has been awarded the Order of Constantine and Significant Sig awards from that organization.

References

* https://medicine.roseman.edu/home/leadership/
FIU bio

White House Press Office bio
* ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center''. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. 1956 births American gastroenterologists Living people MacArthur Fellows Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients University of Florida alumni Christopher Columbus High School (Miami-Dade County, Florida) alumni {{US-physician-stub