The Dartmouth Institute Announces 2023 Class Day Keynote Speaker
We are excited to announce that this year’s Class Day keynote speaker will be Dr. Antonia Coello Novello, MD, MPH, DrPH, the 14th Surgeon General of the United States.
Dr. Novello was born in Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a B.S. degree in 1965 and an M.D. degree in 1970. She completed her subspecialty training in pediatric and nephrology at the University of Michigan and Georgetown University. Dr. Novello received a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1982, and a Doctor of Public Health in May 2000.
She holds countless awards, including the Legion of Merit, The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, and the National Governor’s Association Distinguished Service to State Government Award for her performance during September 11th, as well as a membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society and National Academy of Medicine, to name a few, and holds over 56 honoris causa. In 2011, Dr. Novello received the Don Quijote Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2020 was listed as one of the 100 Women of the Century in Science and Medicine—in a commemoration of the 19th Amendment. Recently, the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine welcomed Dr. Novello as the 2022 Module Renaming Honoree. The United States Hispanic Leadership Institute also in 2022 established the Dr. Antonia Novello Humanitarian Award in honor of her service to humankind. In January 2023, Dr. Novello will be awarded the Puerto Rico National Guard Merit Cross Medal the highest for carrying out services honorably during the disaster response in Puerto Rico.
On March 9, 1990, Dr. Antonia Novello was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to serve as the 14th Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service. Her appointment marked two firsts: Dr. Novello became the first woman and the first Hispanic ever to hold this position.
On June 3, 1999, Governor George E. Pataki nominated Dr. Novello to be the 13th New York State Health Commissioner; one of the leading health agencies in the nation with a $49 Billion budget – one-third of the whole NY state budget. Dr. Novello also served as the Executive Director of Public Health Policy at Florida Hospital. She also served as a liaison between the government of the Dominican Republic and its Attorney General on raising the awareness of domestic violence and spearheading efforts for national legislation, invited by the US ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
During the recovery effort after Hurricane María, Dr. Novello was involved in setting up community health clinics in the center of the island, where she distributed medications, resources, and cots to multiple sectors with the help of the National Guard medical force and the US Army. She was also instrumental in the establishment of mental health clinics with the assistance of medical students of UCC and the National Guard. She has also aided the efforts of the National Guard in the aftermath of the January earthquake on the island. At that time, she was in charge of supervising the health of people affected by the earthquakes, especially the mental health aspect of the people living in the tent cities of the five towns massively affected by the earthquakes. For such efforts, Dr. Novello received the National Guard Humanitarian award and Sister Isolina Ferre award for excellence of service to others.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, she has become the spokesperson and public health advocate for the prevention efforts regarding the virus and the vaccine. Currently, she is involved with VOCES and the National Guard of Puerto Rico in testing for COVID-19 and vaccinating the elderly, the children, and children with disabilities in Puerto Rico. Today she continues her work developing and strengthening ties of trust as a mentor and creative agent of new initiatives in different sectors, arising from the current need for access to health, disease prevention and education for the masses. At this moment, Dr. Antonia Novello has become a health advocate for the new realities of public health in Puerto Rico.
We are so glad to welcome Dr. Novello to Dartmouth to help honor and celebrate our graduates this year!