Lt General Ronald R. Blanck

Last Name: Blanck

First Name: Ronald

Middle Name: Ray
Nickname: Ron

Medals and Honors: Distinguished Service Medals, the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, and a Bronze Star.

ACNSL Offices and Committees: Military Health

Rank: Lieutenant General

Service/Department: U.S. Army

Last or Significant Assignment: Surgeon General of the United States Army

Areas of Experience: Military Health, bioterrorism, mass casualty event response

Lieutenant General Ronald Ray Blanck, U.S. Army (Retired) was the 39th Surgeon General of the United States Army, from 1996 to 2000. He is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and is the only such physician ever appointed Surgeon General of the Army. He was also president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth from 2000 to 2006. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

He was also president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth from 2000 to 2006. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

He is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is board certified in internal medicine. He began his military career in 1968 as a medical officer and battalion surgeon in Vietnam. He retired 32 years later as the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command, with more than 46,000 military personnel and 26,000 civilian employees throughout the world.

During his military career, he also served as commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center; first commander of the North Atlantic Region Medical Command;[3] and Director of Professional Services and Chief of Medical Corps Affairs for the U.S. Army Surgeon General. Other assignments included Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine; Chief of the Department of Medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center; Commander, Berlin Army Hospital; and Commander, Frankfurt Regional Army Medical Center.

He has held teaching positions at Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University College of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of Health Services and at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. He joined the UNT Health Science Center in August 2000 after his retirement from the U.S. Army and served as president until June 30, 2006.

He is consulted as an advisor on bioterrorism issues and an expert in preparing the medical community to respond to mass casualty incidents or those involving weapons of mass destruction. He chaired task forces on bioterrorism for both the Texas Medical Association and the American Osteopathic Association.

In 2000, the American Medical Association honored him with its highest award for government officials, the Dr. Nathan Davis Award.

He is past Governor of the American College of Physicians/American Society of Internal Medicine and was named a Master by the society.

He is past Chair of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' National Research Advisory Council, past member and Chair of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), past Chair of the Board of Managers of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States and past Chair of Tenax Therapeutics, Inc. He is currently on the board of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine as well as the board of Operative Experience, Inc.

In late 2022, he was selected to be the Interim President of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), a member of Intealth, and a partner of ECFMG.