William L. Roper (born 1948) is an American physician who was the director of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC) from 1990 to 1993, when he was asked to step down over controversy about his response to the AIDS crisis. After leaving the CDC, he joined the faculty at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, and then was CEO of UNC Health Care. He was the dean of the

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is the public health school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and is accre ...

and the

UNC School of Medicine The University of North Carolina School of Medicine is a professional school within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It offers a Doctor of Medicine degree along with combined Doctor of Medicine / Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of M ...

before being appointed interim president of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in January 2019. In June 2020, it was announced that he would be succeeded by

Peter Hans Peter Hans is the current president of the University of North Carolina system. He previously served as the ninth president of the North Carolina Community College System, beginning in 2018. Education and early life Hans grew up in Southport, North ...

in August. Roper received his medical and

master of public health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...

degrees from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. A former White House Fellow and head of the Health Care Financing Administration, he was moved from his position as head of the Office of Policy Development in the White House to the CDC at the beginning of March 1990. He is on the global Advisory Council for CFK Africa, an NGO working in Kenyan informal settlements.

References

, - 1948 births American health care chief executives American public health doctors Clinton administration personnel Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention George H. W. Bush administration personnel Hueytown High School alumni Living people Presidents of the University of North Carolina System University of Alabama School of Medicine alumni University of North Carolina faculty White House Fellows Members of the National Academy of Medicine {{US-gov-bio-stub