Commencement Speaker
The Student Council and Medical School are delighted to announce the speaker for our 2012 commencement on Friday, May 11, at 3 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Graduating in 1975 from the University of Michigan Medical School, former U.S. Army Surgeon General and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command, Lieutenant General (Retired) Eric B. Schoomaker, will join us to speak to our graduating students, their families, friends, and faculty.
As part of his address, our distinguished speaker will reflect on his University of Michigan education, how it prepared him for leadership, for work within high-functioning health care teams, and how it helped him build a successful career in medicine during a time of tremendous change in science and health care delivery.
Dr. Schoomaker has been dedicated to improving education and training of health care professionals in the military medical system. He has devoted his work to meeting the health care needs of soldiers, their families and veterans, launching many initiatives that the Army Medical Department is implementing throughout its facilities in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific. These initiatives have established a comprehensive behavioral health system of care, fostering a culture of trust, comprehensive pain management, and promoting health and preventing risk.
Dr. Schoomaker graduated from U-M in 1970 with a bachelor’s of science degree and was commissioned a second lieutenant as a Distinguished Military Graduate. He received his medical degree from the U-M Medical School in 1975 and completed his Ph.D. in human genetics in 1979, also at U-M. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center from 1976-78, followed by a fellowship in hematology at Duke University in 1979. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and hematology.
After four years of service as the U.S. Army’s highest ranking physician, Dr. Schoomaker retired on December 5, 2011, from his role as the U.S. Army Surgeon General and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. He also has served as the commanding general at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as commander of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, Commander of the 30th Medical Brigade headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, Chief of the Army Medical Corps, and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
Dr. Schoomaker is married to Audrey, a former Army Nurse Corps Officer and yoga therapist and instructor. They are the proud parents of two school-aged children, Kayla and Evan, and Heidi, a college student.
