Eric E. Whitaker

Eric E. Whitaker is a prominent African-American physician, public health practitioner, and health policy expert. He is a close friend of President Barack Obama.

Whitaker received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Grinnell College in 1987, and in 1993 a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health and a medical degreefrom the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Whitaker was most recently the Executive Vice President, Strategic Affiliations and Associate Dean of Community-based Research at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC). . He was responsible for leading the UCMC’s Urban Health Initiative, linking the Medical Center’s mission of patient care, teaching and research for the purpose of improving the health of residents of the South Side of Chicago. Until September 2007, he served as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). In this capacity, Whitaker oversaw an agency with a budget of $450 million with over 1,200 employees statewide, as well as 3 laboratories and seven regional offices. Prior to his appointment at the State, Whitaker was an attending physician in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and a member of its Collaborative Research Unit. His research interests include HIV/AIDS prevention and minority health, particularly for black males.

Recognition and achievements

Whitaker helped found Project Brotherhood: A Black Men’s Clinic, a weekly clinic for African American men housed in Woodlawn Adult Health Center on Chicago's South Side, which is affiliated with the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

In 2003, he received the Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians. In 2000, the project received the highest award accorded by the National Association of Public Hospital and Health Systems. In 1991, Whitaker represented the 30,000 members of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) as its president while testifying twice before the U.S. Congress regarding national health insuranceand minority health issues. In November 2003, he was named as one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ Forty under Forty, Chicago’s rising stars in business and government

Whitaker serves on the boards of Partnership for Prevention, Grinnell College, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (co-chair of GlobalHealth Policy Roundtable), and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Controversy

Whitaker served director of Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) from 2003 until 2007. His chief of staff at the IDPH, Quinshaunta Golden, was subsequently indicted on charges of fraud and theft involving multiple grants made by Whitaker's department. After his term at IDPH, he moved to the University of Chicago's School of Medicine, together with Ms. Golden, where he was executive vice president of strategic affiliations and associate dean.