Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams was the first Black woman to serve as Deputy Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps., then the first Black woman to rise to the level of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. The first Black woman and the seventh president of HSC, she joined the Commissioned Corps, retiring in 2020 as Rear Admiral Upper Half. She was a nurse officer in the U.S. Army and a research nurse at the University of Maryland. She was Deputy Associate Administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration. She earned the International Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. She received her BS in Nursing from Hampton University, a MS in Nursing and Health Policy from the University of Maryland – Baltimore, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of the U.S. Army ROTC Hall of Fame.
