Dr. Judith Craven
Dr. Judith Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Bowling Green State University for her undergraduate studies and received her medical degree in 1974 from the Baylor College of Medicine. She was the first African-American woman to graduate from Baylor. Dr. Craven later earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston and trained at the Harvard University Program for Senior Managers in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
After her residency, Dr. Craven was appointed chief of anesthesia for Riverside General Hospital in Houston. In 1980, she became the first woman and second African American to hold the position of Director of Health Care Services for the City of Houston Health Department (HHD). During her tenure, her major concern was to increase the public’s awareness of the available services in HHD. In 1991, she was elected dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Allied Health Science and vice president of minority affairs for the University of Texas Health Science Center.
In 2001, Dr. Craven began a six-year term on the board of the University of Texas System; she was the first African-American woman to hold this position. Dr. Craven also served on the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, the Robert Wood Johnson National Advisory Committee on Health Care for the Uninsured, the Houston Committee for Private Sector Initiatives, and many other organizations.
Dr. Craven’s contribution to the medical field has earned her various awards. She was the winner of Outstanding Contributions on Public Health in 1984, Outstanding Service to Medicine in 1985, and Outstanding Young Women of America and Women on the Move.
Dr Judith Craven is a member of the Houston Medical Forum and the Harris County Medical Society.
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