U.S. Surgeon General To Give Commencement Address At Spelman College May 19

The time has come once again for college students accross the country to walk the stage and grab their diplomas, as they finish one chapter of their lives and move on to another chapter.  In that spirit, Spelman College has announced that their 2013 commencement speaker will be United States Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, M.D.

According to Spelman College's Audrey Arthur, Dr. Benjamin is, "a medical trailblazer, (she) was the first physician under age 40 and the first African-American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees in 1995. She was also the first African-American female president of a state medical society in the United States when she assumed leadership of the Medical Association State of Alabama in 2002."

“America’s Doctor” will deliver the commencement address to more than 500 graduates of the Spelman College class of 2013 and receive an honorary degree on Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m. at the Georgia International Convention Center.

Spelman College President, Beverly Daniel Tatum, said of Benjamin, "as an accomplished medical professional whose top concern is the health and wellness of the nation and American citizens abroad, Dr. Benjamin is an exemplary role model for Spelman students."

In addition to Dr. Benjamin, honorary degrees will be presented to Freeman Hrabowski, III, Ph.D., president of University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Harriet Mitchell Murphy, C’49, retired judge for the State of Texas. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery, civil rights advocate, will receive the National Community Service Award.