Audrey Forbes Manley retired as Spelman College’s first alumna president after a long career in private and public service.
Manley received a B.A. from Spelman, an M.D. from Meharry Medical College, and a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and completed her training in pediatrics at Cook County Children’s Hospital. Manley has served on the faculties of Howard University, Emory University, University of Chicago, and the University of California.
In 1976, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and was later appointed as the first African American woman principle deputy assistant secretary for health with oversight of eight agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. While at USPHS, Manley also directed the sickle cell anemia and other genetic disease programs. She went on to serve as deputy U.S. surgeon general and later as acting U.S. surgeon general before becoming president of Spelman College.
Manley was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1977 (as of July 1, 2015, the National Academy of Medicine).
Links to Additional Information
Profile of Audrey Forbes Manley from the National Library of Medicine