Henry Foster (doctor)

Dr. Henry Foster, Jr., is professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College in the United States. He is also clinical professor, obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt University.

Career

Dr. Henry Foster served as U.S. President Bill Clinton’s senior advisor on teen pregnancy reduction and youth issues, and was a nominee to the post of Surgeon General of the United States by Clinton in 1995. Foster, an obstetrician from Tennessee, was nominated to fill the void left by Jocelyn Elders, but garnered substantial controversy when he admitted that he had performed abortions. Although there were questions raised concerning his involvement with forced sterilizations during the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Dr. Foster has sharply denied involvement although employed by the university during the final period of the experiments. When asked how many abortions he had performed, he initially replied that it had been few, but later stated the number was likely substantially higher. Opponents accused him of dishonesty, while he defended himself by stating that he could not make a spur of the moment specific recollection without examining his records. Foster faced significant opposition in the Senate, mostly by anti-abortion Republicans. Foster's nomination was withdrawn on June 22, following a fillibuster by Senator Phil Gramm, who was seeking the 1996 Republican presidential nomination at the time.

During his career, Dr. Foster has produced more than 250 publications and abstracts as well as contributed chapters to textbooks. He has a book titled Make a Difference. He has conducted many university lectureships and his professional expertise has been sought across the globe.

Foster wrote an autobiography in 1997 titled Make a Difference: the Founder of the 'I Have a Future Program' Shares His Vision for Young America.

Dr. Foster is immediate past chair of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Population Fund. He is immediate past chair of the board of directors for Pathfinder International. He previously served two terms as chair of the board of regents of the United States National Library of Medicine.

Education

Dr. Foster has received six honorary doctorate degrees. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was initiated into the Pi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

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