Arkansas

Dr. Elders
Joycelyn Jones Elders

(1933 -    )

Joycelyn Jones Elders was born on August 13, 1933 in Schaal, Arkansas.  Her parents were sharecroppers, and when she was growing up, Joycelyn worked in cotton fields with her seven brothers and sisters and her parents.  Fortunately, when Joycelyn was 15, she won a scholarship and was able to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.  That same year, Joycelyn decided that she wanted to be a doctor.  After three years, Joycelyn graduated with a bachelor’s degree form Philander Smith College.  Then she decided to join the army and study physical therapy.  Joycelyn returned to Little Rock to attend the University of Arkansas Medical School.  When she graduated in 1960 with her M.D., she was the only woman in her class. Joycelyn also married Oliver Elders in 1960.

Joycelyn became a faculty member at the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1971.  She is an expert in pediatric diabetes. In 1987, Joycelyn was appointed to be Arkansas’s director of public health.  She also served as the surgeon general when President Bill Clinton was in office.  Joycelyn fought for things such as improved health care in poor communities, sex education and birth control distribution to reduce teenage pregnancies, AIDS education, and ways to increase the number of children receiving immunizations.  After Joycelyn resigned from her position as surgeon general, she went back to her teaching position at the University of Arkansas Medical School.


For more information on Joycelyn, you can visit the following website:

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http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/0772EldersJoycelyn.asp?pic=none

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http://women.eb.com/women/articles/Elders_Joycelyn.html

bullet http://www.jackinworld.com/library/articles/elders.html

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