Richard Carmona

Dr. Richard Carmona served as the seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States and was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He trained as a Special Forces medic and weapons specialist and went on to become a combat-decorated Special Forces Vietnam veteran.

As US Surgeon General, Dr. Carmona focused on prevention, preparedness, health disparities, health literacy, and global health. He also issued many landmark Surgeon General communications during his tenure, including the definitive Surgeon General’s Report about the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Dr. Carmona is a physician, police officer, public health administrator and professor. He has served for over 30 years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, including as deputy sheriff, detective, SWAT team leader and department surgeon. Dr. Carmona is the chairman of the State of Arizona Southern Regional Emergency Medical System and a distinguished professor of public health and professor of surgery at the University of Arizona. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Carmona earned a B.S. and M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco.