Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA

Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, joined the boards of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals in June 2015. She is a member of the Quality and Health Improvement Committee and the Community Health Committee.

Dr. Benjamin is founder and CEO of BayouClinic/Gulf States Health Policy Center in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, and the NOLA.com/Times-Picayune endowed chair of public health sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana. She served as the 18th United States surgeon general from 2009 to 2013. Dr. Benjamin specializes in prevention policies and health promotion among individuals, as well as large populations, especially concerning obesity, childhood obesity, and children’s health. She has a special interest in rural health care, health disparities among socio-economic groups, suicide, violence, and mental health. Dr. Benjamin is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

She was a Kellogg National Fellow and Rockefeller Next Generation Leader. Dr. Benjamin was the first physician under the age of 40 and the first African American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. In 1998 she was the United States recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. In 2000 she received the national Caring Award, which was inspired by Mother Teresa.

Dr. Benjamin serves on the boards of Computer Programs and Systems, Inc., Doximity, and several private companies.

Dr. Benjamin received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana, attended Morehouse School of Medicine, earned her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and holds an MBA from Tulane University. She is the recipient of 30 honorary degrees.