Healthcare Leader Dr. Gary Gottlieb Keynotes Commencement

BOSTON, May 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Gary L. Gottlieb, President of Brigham and Women's Hospital, will be the keynote speaker at Bunker Hill Community College's 35th commencement exercises, on Saturday, May 30, at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Gottlieb, a strong proponent of alleviating mental health care disparities, will receive the President's Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding commitment and service to the College.

"Dr. Gottlieb is a visionary leader with a lifelong commitment to healthcare based on equity and affordability," said Mary L. Fifield, Ph.D., President of the College. "His dedication to our College has been shown time and again. He was instrumental in the design of our College's strategic goals. Further, he has spearheaded partnerships between BHCC and Brigham and Women's Hospital to help hospital employees upgrade job skills and to enable our students to obtain clinical experience."

Gottlieb became president of Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2002. In January of 2010, he will become president of Partners HealthCare, the largest healthcare provider in Massachusetts.

In 2005, Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino appointed Dr. Gottlieb chair of the Private Industry Council, the city's workforce development board. The Council works with education, labor, government and the community to oversee public and private workforce development programs.

From 1998-2002, Dr. Gottlieb served as Chairman of Partners Psychiatry and Mental Health System in Boston. Prior to his arrival in Boston, he served as Director and Chief Executive Officer of Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, the nation's oldest, independent, psychiatric hospital. He was appointed to that position in 1994.

Gottlieb received his M.D. from Albany Medical College of Union University, in New York State. He received a master's degree in Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. cum laude from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State.

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls almost 9,800 students on two campuses and at five satellite locations each semester. Some 2,000 students take classes online. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 690 international students who come from more than 103 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College