Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr.
Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr., professor emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College and a nationally known expert on teen pregnancy, will speak at noon Wednesday in 214 Light Hall.
The Black History Month Special Lecture is titled “What Can We Learn From History?”
Foster helped pioneer what has become a national model for regionalized perinatal health care systems, and in the 1980s he developed the “I Have A Future Program” to reduce teen pregnancy.
President George H.W. Bush recognized the program as one of the nation’s “Thousand Points of Light.”
In 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Foster for U.S. surgeon general, but his confirmation was blocked in the Senate over the issue of abortion. Foster later served as Clinton’s Senior Advisor on Teen Pregnancy Reduction and Youth Issues.
A clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt, Foster is a former dean of Medicine at Meharry, a member of the Institute of Medicine, and the author of more than 250 publications including his 1997 autobiography, Make a Difference.
Foster’s lecture is sponsored by the Student National Medical Association and the Vanderbilt Office for Diversity in Medical Education. For more information, contact Alana Denney at 322-1005.