May 15, 2026, 6:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Dr. Jerome Adams Kroger Field - Recruitment Room
Event Details
Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA
Dr. Jerome Adams is a physician, public health leader, and tireless advocate for health equity, whose work continues to shape the nation’s response to some of its most urgent health challenges.
Dr. Adams currently serves as a Presidential Fellow and Executive Director of the Center for Community Health Enhancement and Learning at Purdue University and holds the title of Distinguished Professor of Practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health. However, he is perhaps best known for his service as the 20th Surgeon General of the United States.
During his time as Surgeon General, Dr. Adams served as the operational head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, overseeing over 6,000 uniformed health officers. His leadership helped guide the nation through a series of historic public health crises, including three consecutive category 5 hurricanes and, most notably, the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Adams worked to ensure the nation's response was not only grounded in science but also mindful of the deep racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities that COVID-19 laid bare. He became a visible and trusted communicator, working to bring lifesaving information directly to underserved and disproportionately affected communities.
Throughout his tenure, Dr. Adams used the platform of Surgeon General to issue several influential calls to action and public health advisories. These included:
- The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Naloxone and Opioid Overdose—the first advisory from a Surgeon General in over a decade—urging more widespread access to naloxone to reduce overdose deaths and save lives during the opioid epidemic.
- A Call to Action to Improve Maternal Health, which brought national attention to the alarming rates of maternal mortality in the U.S., especially among Black and Indigenous women, and promoted evidence-based solutions to address disparities.
- A Call to Action on Hypertension Control, emphasizing the urgent need to address one of the nation’s most preventable causes of disease and death—particularly in underserved populations.
- And a landmark report on Community Health and Economic Prosperity, which made a compelling case that improving public health is not only a moral imperative, but an economic one.
Earlier in his career, as Indiana’s State Health Commissioner, Dr. Adams was at the center of the response to the HIV crisis in Scott County—one of the most severe outbreaks in U.S. history. His courage and data-driven advocacy helped shift policy in a deeply conservative state, leading to the legalization of syringe service programs and securing funding to address infant mortality and other pressing issues.
In addition to his public service roles, Dr. Adams has become a regular and trusted voice in national media, appearing frequently on television, radio, and digital platforms to advocate for public health and spotlight issues affecting marginalized communities. He is also a prolific writer, authoring numerous op-eds and opinion pieces that challenge complacency and call for bold action. In a recent STAT News article, Dr. Adams made a powerful case for continuing to invest in diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care, reminding us that DEI is not a political slogan, but a public health necessity.
Dr. Adams is a licensed anesthesiologist with a master’s degree in public health. Whether in the operating room, a policy briefing, or a church town hall, he brings the same mission: to serve the health of the whole community, especially those most often left behind.
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