Michael Trujillo

Michael H. Trujillo (born 1944) is an American physician who was the first full-blooded Indigenous person to serve as the director of the Indian Health Service, the arm of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which deals with the health of Native Americans and Native Alaskans.

Biography

Michael H. Trujillo was born in 1944, to Ruchanda (née Paisano) and Miguel Trujillo. Trujillo and his older sister, Josephine Waconda were enrolled as members of their mother's tribe, Pueblo of Laguna. Their father was enrolled at the Pueblo of Isleta. Trujillo earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1966, a BA degree in history and political science in 1967, a master's degree in microbiology and biochemistry in 1970, and his MD degree in 1974 from the University of New Mexico. He also received a master's degree in public health administration at the University of Minnesota in 1984. His medical specialties were family and internal medicine. After completing his schooling, Trujillo served as the chief medical officer of the Portland office of the United States Department of Health and Human Services's Indian Health Service (IHS). In 1993, he was selected to become the director of the IHS by President Bill Clinton and his appointment was confirmed by the US Senate. The appointment made him the first full-blooded American Indian to head the IHS, and gave him the rank of rear admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC).