James O. Mason

Who is James O. Mason?

James Ostermann Mason was the United States Assistant Secretary for Health from 1989 to 1993 and the Acting Surgeon General of the United States from 1989 to 1990. As the ASH he was also a former four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was also a director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mason earned B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Utah and a masters and Ph.D. of Public Health degrees from Harvard University. He was the first managing director of the LDS Church's Unified Welfare Services, directing the church's hospital system. He served as the executive director of the Utah Department of Health until 1983, when he was named director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia; Mason held the directorship of the CDC until 1990.

In 1989, the U.S. Senate confirmed Mason as Assistant Secretary for Health, which made him head of the United States Public Health Service, and Acting Surgeon General. He later served as the American delegate to the World Health Organization.