EDITOR'S NOTE:  Elders has requested no video or audio taping during
her 45 minute talk.  She will be available for interviews, including
on-camera or audiotaped comments, during a 15-minute press conference
beginning at 7 p.m. in McLeod Hall.  Reporters from all media are, of
course, welcome to attend and take notes on her talk as part of
covering the event. 


FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL JOYCELYN ELDERS
TO SPEAK AT U.VA.

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 29 -- Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former
U.S. Surgeon General, will speak at the University of Virginia at 7:30
p.m. April 10 in McLeod Hall auditorium.  As the Thomas Jefferson
Visiting Lecturer, Elders will speak on "Health Care in the 21st
Century." 
	Elders, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was the
first African American and the second woman to hold the post of U.S.
Surgeon General, responsible for the nation's health. Known for her
outspoken views on public health, she served until 1995.  Prior to
moving to Washington, she served as director of the Arkansas
Department of Health under then-Gov. Clinton.
	Elders was born in Arkansas, the oldest of eight children in a
sharecropper family.  At 15 she was awarded a full college scholarship
and attended Philander Smith College.  Elders attended medical school
on the G.I. Bill and completed her residency in pediatrics and
endocrinology.  She also holds a master's degree in biochemistry. 
	Elders has cited violence, sexually transmitted diseases,
poverty and substance abuse as the biggest threats to the health and
well-being of the nation's children.  She has returned to the
University of Arkansas Medical School, dividing her time between the
classroom and the clinic, continuing her commitment to education.
	Elders was elected president of the Association of State and
Territorial Health Officers
in 1992.  Her numerous honors include the National Coalition of 100
Black Women's Candace Award for Health Science and the Distinguished
Service Award of the National Governors Association. 
	Her speech, co-sponsored by the University Union and the
Alumni Association, is free and open to the public. 
###
March 28, 1997

	For more information, contact Jamison Chang at University
Union at (804) 924-3286. Television reporters should call our TV News
Office at (804) 924-7550.