Eleanor Concepcion "Connie" Mariano (born 1958), is a Filipina American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and retired

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She is the first Filipino American and graduate of the Uniformed Services University of Medicine to reach the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in the U.S. Navy as well as the second woman to become

Physician to the President The physician to the president is the formal and official title of the physician who is chosen by the president to be his personal physician. Often, the physician to the president also serves as the director of the White House Medical Unit, a u ...

, a position that placed her as director of the

White House Medical Unit The White House Medical Unit (WHMU) is a unit of the White House Military Office and is responsible for the medical needs of White House staff and visitors. The unit also provides medical care to the president, the vice president, their families, ...

Background

Mariano was born at the Santa Rita in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1958. Two years later, her parents arrived in the United States. Her father served in the navy as a steward and eventually retired with the rank of Master Chief. Mariano was the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of her

Mar Vista High School Mar Vista Senior High (MVH), in Imperial Beach, California, United States, is a high school established in 1951. Mar Vista has an award-winning marine science academy called Poseidon. Students spend grades 9-12 in the academy. It is frequently c ...

Imperial Beach, California Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the southernmost city in California and the West Coast of the United States. It is in the South Bay area ...

, class of 1973. She graduated from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Revelle College Revelle College is the oldest residential college at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California. Founded in 1964, it is named after oceanographer and UC San Diego founder Roger Revelle. UC San Diego—along with Revelle Colle ...

with ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' honors and a degree in biology. Mariano joined the U.S. Navy in 1977, and received a

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

from the Uniformed Services University of Medicine in 1981, graduating as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. Following graduation, she served as a doctor on serving in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. By 1991, Mariano was a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and the division head of internal medicine and director of the internal medicine clinic at the San Diego naval hospital. Only a year away from being eligible for release from active duty, she was nominated by her commanding officer to serve as Navy physician to the White House Medical Unit. She joined the unit in June 1992, serving as a physician to President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

, and was about to be issued new orders to be director of the clinic at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego when she was personally selected by the incoming President,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, to be

White House Physician The physician to the president is the formal and official title of the physician who is chosen by the president to be his personal physician. Often, the physician to the president also serves as the director of the White House Medical Unit, a ...

and director of the White House Medical Unit. As a result, she received an early promotion to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on December 7, 1994. In the autumn of 1999, Mariano was nominated by the President to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

(lower half); she was formally promoted in 2000. In 2001, Dr. Mariano retired from the Navy and left the White House to join the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. She was succeeded as White House Physician by Richard Tubb. In 2005, she went on to found the Center for Executive Medicine in Scottsdale. Hawaii State Senator Will Espero submitted Mariano's name to

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

for the position of

Surgeon General of the United States The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. Th ...

in May 2009. She is the author of the book '' The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents - A Memoir''. With a foreword from Bill Clinton, the autobiographical book takes a look at the personal lives of the three American Presidents and three American First Ladies she had taken care of while working as a

.Her Patients Were Presidents, Filipino Reporter, Year XXXVIII, No. 19, National Edition, New York City, April 16–22, 2010, pages 1 and 6.

References

External links

President's Physician Biography

Campaign Contributions

The White House Doctor Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mariano, Eleanor 1958 births Living people United States Navy rear admirals (lower half) Female admirals of the United States Navy American military personnel of Filipino descent American women physicians People from Imperial Beach, California University of California, San Diego alumni Filipino women writers American writers of Filipino descent Filipino emigrants to the United States American military writers Physicians to the President American memoirists American women memoirists Women military writers United States Navy Medical Corps officers 21st-century American women Military personnel from California Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences alumni

Background

See also

References

External links