Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., was president of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) – the only predominantly Black medical school in the U.S. established in the 20th Century – for more than two decades. He became the founding dean and director of the Medical Education Program at Morehouse College in 1975, which became The School of Medicine at Morehouse College in 1978.

Dr. Sullivan left MSM in 1989 to accept an appointment by President George H.W. Bush to serve as the 17th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he led the national efforts to improve the health and health behavior of Americans.

In January 1993, he returned to MSM and resumed the office of president. He retired in 2002 and was appointed president emeritus.

A native of Atlanta, Dr. Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College in 1954, and earned his medical degree, cum laude, from Boston University School of Medicine in 1958.  He is certified in internal medicine and hematology, holds a mastership from the American College of Physicians, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha academic honor societies.

Dr. Sullivan currently is the chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Sullivan Alliance to Transform the Health Professions. In January 2020, in order to further increase diversity and transform health professions’ education and health delivery systems, the Board of the Sullivan Alliance voted to become a central program of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC). In 2022, the AAHC merged into the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  He also serves on the boards of United Therapeutics and Emergent Biosolutions, and he is co-chair of the Henry Schein Cares Foundation.