Who is Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump’s new pick to be first Black woman to head the CDC?

The nomination of Schwartz, an award-winning physician who has served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, is being praised by the medical community.

President Donald Trump announced his choice to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday, nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz as its next director.

“Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military, the Greatest and Most Powerful Force in the World, and then served as my Deputy Surgeon General during my First Term,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “She is a STAR!”

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Schwartz will become the first Black woman to serve as CDC director.

“She’s not a wallflower, and she’s not afraid to speak truth to power,” Dr. Brett Giroir, a former Assistant Health Secretary who was Schwartz’s boss during the first Trump administration, told the New York Times. “She’s really wicked smart, and is not subject to rumor and conspiracy theories. I’m very pleased that a person with her experience, credentials and dedication to public health and prevention is a candidate for this position.”

Who is Dr. Erica Schwartz?

Schwartz, a veteran rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, previously served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration. She left the post in 2021.

The Ivy League-educated doctor and law school graduate (University of Maryland) completed her 2001 residency in occupational and environmental medicine and later served in the U.S. Navy until 2005. Schwartz later served as Chief of Preventive Medicine from 2005 to 2013 and Chief of Health Services from 2013 to 2015 at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. She was then appointed as the Coast Guard’s principal expert on flu pandemics.

Dr. Schwartz has received several awards, including a Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, and Commendation Medals from both the Navy and the Coast Guard. In 2011, she was recognized as one of the Military Health System’s female physicians of the year.

In 2015, Dr. Schwartz was appointed to the rank of rear admiral at the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and became the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer. While at the U.S. Coast Guard, she was responsible for its health care system of 41 clinics and 150 sick bays. She also managed and oversaw the Coast Guard’s mishap prevention, response, and investigation, as well as its child care programs, food services delivery programs, Ombudsman, Substance Abuse, Health Promotion, and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programs.

In 2019, President Trump appointed Dr. Schwartz as deputy surgeon general. She played an integral role during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the federal government’s program of drive-through testing sites.

Dr. Schwartz worked as the point person for the Department of Health and Human Services during the presidential transition from the first Trump administration to the Biden administration. She was later informed by the Biden administration that she would not be selected to remain as deputy surgeon general, leading to her resignation and the end of her 27 years of combined uniformed service.

Following her time in the U.S. federal government, Schwartz served as president of UnitedHealthcare’s insurance solutions and joined the boards of directors of Georgia-based home care provider Aveanna Healthcare and medical imaging company Butterfly Network.

Dr. Schwartz’s nomination was praised by the American Public Health Association, which described her as a “well-trained and credentialed physician.”

“Erica Schwartz possesses the medical background and public health knowledge to understand that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be guided by evidence-based science. With her previous service at HHS during the first Trump administration and as Chief Medical Officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, she has demonstrated strong leadership skills,” said the advocacy group of medical professionals.

“CDC is a much larger and more complex organization to lead. She will need to use sound managerial and negotiation skills to navigate the rebuilding of our nation’s public health system. If confirmed by the Senate as the next Director of the CDC, we look forward to working with Dr. Schwartz to ensure we use the best science and evidence to improve the nation’s health.”