MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has nominated Dr. Michelle Taylor to be the next director of the Shelby County Health Department.
Dr. Taylor is a graduate of White Station High School in Memphis and earned a Bachelor of Science-Biology degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City and has a Master of Science-Epidemiology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
In addition, Dr. Taylor earned a Doctor of Public Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and a Master in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris: “I believe Dr. Taylor is the right person to lead our Health Department and pull us all toward shared responsibility. She will bring to the job a wealth of knowledge and, as important, compassion and commitment to community. Dr. Taylor has spent the last 20 years in service, as a pediatrician, military veteran, and advocate of public health and access to healthcare. She is from a military family, a family tradition that she has continued as member of the Air National Guard. Additionally, as a White Station High graduate, she has deep roots here and already knows what makes this community so special.”
Dr. Michelle Taylor: “I grew up learning to give back. God didn’t bring me here with all of this expertise not to give back to the community that has nurtured me and helped me to grow up in so many different ways. I was a military brat and Memphis is the only place I lived for more than three years. I consider Memphis home and this is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner: “I have no doubt that Dr. Taylor is exactly what Shelby County needs. She has the academic credentials, professional skills, and knowledge to lead our Health Department well into the future. The fact that she is from right here in Shelby County is an added benefit, but even if she weren’t from here, she’d still be an excellent candidate for this job.”
In addition, Dr. Taylor’s previous experience in public health includes several years with the Shelby County Health Department. She has worked as the associate medical director and deputy administrator for the Maternal and Child Health Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program.
Most recently, Dr. Taylor worked as an aerospace medicine division chief in the Office of the Air National Guard Surgeon General in the Air National Guard Readiness Center in Andrews, Maryland. Her extensive resume includes one year as a teacher at Fairley High School and several years in pediatric practice in Memphis.
Dr. Taylor will be presented to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ General Government Committee on Wednesday, July 21 and the full commission will vote on her appointment on Monday, July 26. If approved, she will begin work on August 2.