Susan Gerard, Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, was the honored keynote speaker at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Convocation on Friday, December 14th, 2007.  The ceremony was held at the Arizona Health Sciences Center DuVal Auditorium, and a reception for graduates, friends and family followed in the Arizona Cancer Center Kiewit Auditorium.

As state Health Director since 2005, Ms. Gerard oversees one of the largest departments in Arizona State Government, with a budget of more than $1 billion and a workforce of more than 1,800 employees.  The Arizona Department of Health Services is the state’s lead public health agency, responsible for protecting, maintaining and improving the health of all Arizonans. The department operates programs in behavioral health, disease prevention and control, health promotion, community public health, environmental health, maternal and child health, emergency preparedness, and regulation of child care and assisted living centers, nursing homes, hospitals, and other health care providers.

Among her many achievements in public health, Ms. Gerard has:

• Served as a member of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s administration as a policy adviser for health care issues, assisting with crucial decisions involving state and federal budgets of nearly $8.1 billion directly linked to services for more than 1.2 million residents. 
• Served in the Arizona State Legislature from 1988 to 2002, where she was chair of the health committee, a task that earned her recognition as a statewide leader on major health care issues. 
• Directed the effort to create the Child Fatality Review Program to reduce preventable child deaths using a cross-disciplinary approach.
• Implemented one of the country’s first advance health care directive programs.
• Led efforts to fund and create intervention and prevention programs such as Healthy Families, Healthy Start and Head Start.
• And Ms. Gerard was instrumental in obtaining funding for the seriously mentally ill, the Arizona State Hospital and other mental health programs.

Ms. Gerard received a Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and a Masters in Business Administration from Arizona State University.