OU College of Medicine Honors First Hispanic Woman to Serve as U.S. Surgeon General

The OU College of Medicine recently recognized Dr. Antonia Coello Novello, the first woman and the first Hispanic person to serve as United States Surgeon General, by officially renaming one of its student modules in her honor.

Modules are rooms where students spend much of their time studying and having group discussions during their first two years of medical school.

The College of Medicine chose to rename one of its modules in Novello’s honor to preserve her legacy as an influential female medical professional. To recognize her contributions and to celebrate the module’s renaming, the college hosted Novello for a ceremony held Sept. 16 in the Bird Library Auditorium at the OU Health Sciences Center.

Novello was appointed the 14^th surgeon general of the United States in 1990. As the nation’s top medical authority, Novello advised the public on health matters such as smoking, AIDS, diet and nutrition, environmental health hazards, and the importance of immunization and disease prevention.

“We are elated that our OUCOM Module Renaming Committee elected to rename one of the student modules after Dr. Antonia Novello, the first female and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General,” said Dr. Robert C. Salinas, assistant dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement in the OU College of Medicine. “During her tenure as U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Novello led major public health efforts aimed at improving health and living conditions along with better access to medical care, especially for women, children, and our rural and underserved communities.”

Upon entering medical school, students learn about the namesakes of their modules – a symbolic step that sets the stage for their training.

In recent years, OU medical students who are members of the college’s chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association initiated the idea to recognize women from diverse backgrounds and their contributions to the field of medicine, Salinas said.

Other examples of medical professionals who have been recognized by having a module named after them at OU College of Medicine include Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree.

Novello is remembered for her work to advance pediatric AIDS research and treatment in the early 1980s, just as the AIDS epidemic was emerging and dominated public health concerns at the time.

Previously, she held various positions at the National Institutes of Health, rising to the job of deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1986.

She also served as coordinator for AIDS Research for NICHD in 1987, when she developed a particular interest in pediatric AIDS.

Through her work in promoting AIDS research and treatments at the federal level, she crossed paths with former OU medical school professor Dr. Edward Brandt Jr., who become assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and acting surgeon general of the Public Health Service in 1981.

The two were on the front lines of the government’s response to the public health crisis.

Brandt would later teach at the OU College of Medicine from 1989 until his death in 2007.

Novello was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor of science degree in 1965 and her medical degree in 1970. She completed her subspecialty training in pediatric nephrology at the University of Michigan and Georgetown University. She then earned a master’s in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1982, and a Doctor of Public Health in 2000.

By Jaimy Jones