William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, MBA, following nomination by President Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs since October 2001.

In this position, Dr. Winkenwerder is responsible for overall supervision of the health and medical affairs of the Department of Defense (DoD). He serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all DoD health policies, programs, and activities, and exercises oversight of all DoD health resources.

The mission of the Military Health System (MHS) is to ensure the nation has available at all times a healthy fighting force supported by a combat ready healthcare system; and it is to provide a cost effective, quality health benefit to active duty members, retirees, survivors and their families. The MHS provides medical care for 9.1 million beneficiaries through a $33 billion dollar healthcare system consisting of a worldwide network of 76 military hospitals, over 500 military health clinics, and the Department's extensive private sector health care partners.

A graduate of Davidson College, and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine at North Carolina Memorial Hospital. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. He also completed a fellowship in epidemiology and health services research at the University of Pennsylvania and received his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Winkenwerder came to the Pentagon after 13 years of executive leadership positions in the healthcare industry. Most recently, he was Vice Chairman, Office of the Chief Executive, and Executive Vice President of Health Care Services for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. He also held senior positions at Emory University and Prudential Health Care, and practiced primary care medicine.

Dr. Winkenwerder has spoken widely to various national audiences and written numerous articles on a broad array of health policy issues. He has appeared widely in the national media in his current position to communicate many Department of Defense actions and programs in support of the health and medical needs of the United States military.

Dr. Winkenwerder has been a member of numerous professional organizations and health policy groups, and is a recognized leader in American health care.