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Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), is well known in the world of public health as a leader, practitioner and administrator. Benjamin has been the executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the nation's oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, since December 2002. He came to that post from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he played a key role developing Maryland's bioterrorism plan. Benjamin became secretary of the Maryland health department in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As Secretary, Dr. Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement in the state’s Medicaid program.
Benjamin, of Gaithersburg, Md., is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians; he is also a Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
An established administrator, author and orator, Benjamin started his medical career in 1981 in Tacoma, Wash., where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic at the Madigan Army Medical Center. A few years later, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as chief of emergency medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After leaving the Army, he chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to Acting Commissioner for Public Health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as interim director of the Emergency Ambulatory Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department. Prior to joining APHA, he was the chief executive of the state of Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a cabinet level agency.
At APHA, Benjamin also serves as the publisher of the nonprofit's monthly publication, The Nation's Health, the association's official newspaper, and The American Journal of Public Health, the professions premier scientific publication. He is the author of over 90 scientific articles and book chapters.
Benjamin also serves on the boards of Research America, Partnership for Prevention and the Reagan-Udall Foundation. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science.