Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams. As of Friday, April 21, 2017, Admiral Trent-Adams will serve as the acting Surgeon General of the United States, the first African-American Nurse to fill the position.
Admiral Trent-Adams graduated from Hampton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 1987 before pursuing an M.S. in Nursing and Health Policy and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She was a nurse officer in the Army and also served as a research nurse at UM. She joined the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service in 1992 and served as the deputy associate administrator for the HIV/AIDS bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration before joining the surgeon general’s office.