Antonia C. Novello

Antonia Novello was born (Antonia Coello) in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on August 23, 1944. In 1965 she received her B.S. degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras and her M.D. degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine at San Juan in 1970. Dr. Novello completed her internship and residency in nephrology at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. She stayed at Michigan in 1973-1974 on a fellowship in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Antonia joined the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 1978. Her first job was as a project officer at the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

She was appointed Surgeon General by President Bush, beginning her tenure on March 9, 1990. She was Surgeon General until June 1993. She worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), then as a visiting professor at johns Hopkins and today she is the Commissioner of Health for the State of New York.

By Chris K. & Beni, fourth grade, 2006