The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. The surgeon general's office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), which is housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.
Frank Edward Young was an American physician who served as Commissioner of Food and Drugs from 1984 to 1989 and later as a deputy assistant secretary in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In 2013 he joined Braeburn Pharmaceuticals as executive vice president, clinical and regulatory affairs. In 2018, he became the executive vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at TissueTech Inc.
The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is the uniformed service branch of the United States Public Health Service and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The commissioned corps' primary mission is the protection, promotion, and advancement of health and safety of the general public.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university and professional school of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad as uniformed health professionals, scientists and leaders; by conducting cutting-edge, military-relevant research; by leading the Military Health System in key functional and intellectual areas; and by providing operational support to units around the world.
Faye Glenn Abdellah was an American pioneer in nursing research. Abdellah was the first nurse and woman to serve as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States. Preceding her appointment, she served in active duty during the Korean War, where she earned a distinguished ranking equivalent to a Navy Rear Admiral, making her the highest-ranked woman and nurse in the Federal Nursing Services at the time. In addition to these achievements, Abdellah led the formation of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the NIH, and was the founder and first dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). A few of Abdellah's more passionate interests in public health included the importance of long-term care planning for elderly patients; the need to strengthen nursing school infrastructure; and the necessity of patient-centered approaches in nursing. In 2000, Abdellah was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. During her acceptance speech, Abdellah made the following quote: "We cannot wait for the world to change. .. Those of us with intelligence, purpose, and vision must take the lead and change the world. .. I promise never to rest until my work has been completed!”
Gale S. Pollock is a retired United States Army major general who served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Army from October 2006 to March 2007, and also as chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She became acting Surgeon General of the United States Army for nine months following the 20 March 2007 retirement of her predecessor, Kevin C. Kiley, due to fallout from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal. She was the first woman and the first non-physician to hold the position.
A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only to an officer of two-star rank.
Rear Admiral Christine M. Bruzek-Kohler was the 21st Director of the United States Navy Nurse Corps, and served as the Commander Naval Medical Center San Diego and Navy Medicine West from May 2009 to August 2010. She officially retired from the Navy in December 2010.
Nancy J. Lescavage is a retired American rear admiral who served as the 20th director of the Navy Nurse Corps and was the commander of Naval Medical Education and Training Command, Bethesda, Maryland.
Rear Admiral Kathleen Lousche Martin served as Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy/Vice Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from October 2002 until her retirement in September 2005. She also held the position as the 19th Director of the Navy Nurse Corps from August 1998 to August 2001. She serves on the board of directors for Caliburn International, a military contracting conglomerate that also oversees operations of Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children.
Rear Admiral Joan Marie Engel held the position as the 18th Director of the Navy Nurse Corps from September 1994 to August 1998. She concurrently served as deputy commander for personnel management in the Health Sciences, Education and Training Command, and later as assistant chief for Education, Training and Personnel.
Retired Rear Admiral Mary Joan Nielubowicz was the Director of the Navy Nurse Corps from 1983 to 1987.
Steven Kenneth Galson is an American public health physician. He is currently a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group and Independent Board Member at Biocryst Pharmaceuticals and Elephas Biosciences. Until 2021 he was Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Amgen, the California-based biopharmaceutical company. He is also a Trustee and Professor-at-Large at the Keck Graduate Institute for Applied Life Sciences in Claremont, California. He is a retired rear admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and public health administrator who served as the acting Surgeon General of the United States from October 1, 2007 – October 1, 2009. He served concurrently as acting Assistant Secretary for Health from January 22, 2009 to June 25, 2009, and as the Deputy Director and Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration from 2001 to 2007. As the Acting Surgeon General, he was the commander of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and, while serving as the Assistant Secretary for Health, was the operational head of the Public Health Service.
Rear Admiral Karen Ann Flaherty assumed duties as the Deputy Surgeon General of Navy Medicine at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery as of August 6, 2010. Flaherty served as the 22nd Director of the United States Navy Nurse Corps as well as the Deputy Chief, Wounded, Ill, and Injured at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 2009 to 2010.
Carol Romano is an American public health nurse who is a former Assistant Surgeon General and Chief Nursing Officer for the United States Public Health Service (PHS). Romano holds the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. In 2011, she became associate dean of Academic Affairs for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Graduate School of Nursing.
Boris Lushniak is a retired United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps rear admiral who served as the acting Surgeon General of the United States, from July 17, 2013 to December 18, 2014. He previously served as the Deputy Surgeon General from 2010 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2015 when Vivek Murthy assumed office as Surgeon General. He retired from the Public Health Service on December 8, 2015 after over 27 years of service. On October 4, 2016 he was appointed dean of the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Health, effective January 9, 2017.
Janet Woodcock is an American physician who served as Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs from February 2022 until February 2024, having previously served as Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She joined the FDA in 1986, and has held a number of senior leadership positions there, including terms as the Director of Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) from 1994 to 2004 and 2007 to 2021.
Sylvia Trent-Adams is a retired U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps rear admiral, who last served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for health from January 2, 2019 to August 31, 2020. She previously served as the deputy surgeon general of the United States from October 25, 2015 to January 2, 2019. Trent-Adams also served as the acting surgeon general of the United States from April 21, 2017 to September 5, 2017. She retired from the U.S. Public Health Service on September 30, 2020 after over 33 years of combined uniformed service. On October 5, 2020, Trent-Adams was named to the board of directors for AMN Healthcare.
Erica G. Schwartz is a retired U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps rear admiral who last served as the deputy surgeon general of the United States from January 2019 to April 2021. As a Commissioned Corps officer, she served with the U.S. Coast Guard as their Chief of Health Services and Chief of Preventive Medicine at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters and became its principal expert on flu pandemics. Prior to becoming Deputy Surgeon General, she served as the Coast Guard's Chief Medical Officer from 2015 to 2019. She retired in April 2021 after over 27 years of combined uniformed service.
Susan M. Orsega is an American nurse and rear admiral who currently serves as the senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Surgeon General of the United States. She previously served as the acting surgeon general from January 20 to March 4, 2021. Orsega is one of the first nurses to serve in the position. She also previously served as the director of Commissioned Corps Headquarters, tasked with the administration of the members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS), from March 2019 to October 2021. Prior to becoming acting surgeon general, Orsega was the chief nurse officer of the USPHS from 2016 until 2019.
United States Air Force 
PHS Commissioned Corps 
Rear Admiral 
