Georges C. Benjamin (born September 28, 1952) is an American public health official who has served as Executive Director of the American Public Health Association since 2002, and previously as Secretary of the

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene The Maryland Department of Health is an agency of the government of Maryland responsible for public health issues. The Department is headed by a Secretary who is a member of the Executive Council/Cabinet of the Governor of Maryland. Currently ...

in the Cabinet of Governor

Parris Glendening Parris Nelson Glendening (born June 11, 1942) is an American politician and academic who served as the 59th Governor of Maryland from January 18, 1995, to January 15, 2003. Previously, he was the County Executive of Prince George's County, Mary ...

from 1999 to 2002. He is a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Benjamin is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Life and career

Benjamin was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. He earned a B.S. from the

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has pro ...

, and an M.D. from the

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and formerly Urbana–Champaign. The Urbana–Champaign site stopped accepting ...

. Following graduation from medical school, he began his career at the

Madigan Army Medical Center The Madigan Army Medical Center, located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord just outside Lakewood, Washington, is a key component of the Madigan Healthcare System and one of the largest military hospitals on the West Coast of the United States. The hosp ...

in Tacoma, Washington in 1981, serving there until he was transferred to the

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...

in Washington, D.C. in 1983. Following his discharge from the United States Army in 1987, he was appointed as Chair of the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the

District of Columbia General Hospital The District of Columbia General Hospital was a hospital located in Washington, D.C. It was operational from 1806 to its controversial closing by mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2001, as the city was trying to cut costs while recovering from bankrup ...

, serving in that post until 1990. From 1990 to 1991, he served as Acting Commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Health, and as Director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau in the

District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (also known as DC FEMS, FEMS, DCFD, DC Fire, or Fire & EMS), established July 1, 1804, provides fire protection and emergency medical service for the District of Columbia, in ...

. He returned to service as the Director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau from 1994 to 1995. In 1995, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene serving in that post until his appointment as Secretary in 1999. He is a resident of

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Georges C. 1952 births African-American people in Maryland politics African-American state cabinet secretaries American public health doctors Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Living people Members of the National Academy of Medicine Military personnel from Chicago People from Gaithersburg, Maryland Physicians from Maryland Physicians from Washington, D.C. Physicians from Washington (state) Physicians from Chicago Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Tacoma, Washington State cabinet secretaries of Maryland United States Army Medical Corps officers University of Illinois College of Medicine alumni 20th-century African-American physicians 21st-century African-American physicians