Dr. Wanda K. Jones, Class of 1971

Introduction of Dr. Wanda K. Jones writtern and presented by Breanna Davis, Class of 2009.

Many of us face obstacles in our lifetime that shape and mold us into who we are. Dr. Wanda K. Jones is no different.

Dr. Jones struggled with the early death of her father, but eventually found her way. With her adventurous and brave grandmother as a role model, Dr. Jones graduated from Oxford Area High School in 1971 and went on to Penn State University to obtain a degree in medical technology. She earned her doctorate in Public Health Laboratory Practice from the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Jones has worked in an inner city blood bank's hemotology lab, in a small town hospital as a technologist and microbiologist, and for a state public health laboratory as a laboratory improvement consultant. She .joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta in 1987 as an HIV laboratory trainer, and from 1990 to 1994 was the CDC's Assistant Director for Science in the Office of the Associate Director of HIV and AIDS. She was named the CDC's Associate Director of the Office of Women's Health (OWH) and was appointed OWH director in 1998.

Dr. Jones now works as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2002 she was the leader of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Heart Truth campaign.

Dr. Jones believes that an important issue facing young girls today is having respect for their bodies. "Everything from how you treat your body, how you care for it, how you work for it, not poisoning it ... all come from having respect for your body," says Dr. Jones. "You have the power and the control."

Because of her many accomplishments and contributions to society, I am very pleased and honored to introduce Dr. Wanda K. Jones as a new member of Oxford's Distinguished Alumni.