Biography
Although he was born in Atlanta, Georgia, his parents moved to rural Blakely, Georgia, shortly after he was born. His father was an mortician and his mother worked as a teacher there. His parents sent him, and his brother Walter, to live with friends in Atlanta where the educational opportunities were better.
Louis attended Atlanta public schools and then enrolled at Morehouse College. He graduated from there magna cum laude in 1954. He then went to Boston University Medical School, where he graduated in 1958. He did a residency at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
He, along with other Morehouse alumni, spearheaded the formation of Morehouse School of Medicine. In 1978, he was appointed as the dean and founding director of the medical school.
He married Eve Williamson, an attorney, on September 30, 1955. They have three children.
Sullivan is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
From 1989 through 1993, Sullivan was Secretary of Health and Human Services for President George H. W. Bush. In that position, he helped create President Bush's proposal for healthcare reform in the United States. In 1990 Sullivan was called a "disgrace to his race" by Pete Stark, a white Democrat from California, for opposing federally sponsored national health care.
Beginning June 27, 2007, Sullivan embarked a nationwide campaign to discuss the consequences of "cost-over-care" health delivery. As one of the nation's leading public health policy experts, Sullivan advocates a "symphony of health care delivery," where each aspect of a given health plan is transparent and fully appreciated. He seeks to amend the current over-emphasis on one service area, such as cost, and create a symphonic system that focuses on other key elements.
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