Graduated Harvard Medical School Class of 1978
Judy Ann Bigby was the first in her family to become a doctor, graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1978. She was a Henry J. Kaiser Fellow in general internal medicine at HMS and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) before joining the faculty at Harvard and the BWH department of medicine in 1984. In 2007, Dr. Bigby was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making her the first African American woman to serve in the position. She provided oversight to 17 state agencies and was a member of the Cabinet of Governor Deval Patrick until 2012.
In 2011, President Obama appointed her as one of the inaugural members of the advisory group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health of the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council. Dr. Bigby became the Executive Director of South Africa Partners in June 2017. She has been a member of its board of advisors and board of directors for more than 15 years.