Eric Schoomaker, PhD
Lieutenant General U.S.Army (RET), Director
Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences (USU) Leadership Education and Development
Prior to his retirement in 2012 after 32 years of active service, Lieutenant General (Retired) Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD served as the 42nd U.S. Army Surgeon General and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command.
He currently serves as a Professor and Vice-Chair for Centers and Programs in the Department of Military & Emergency Medicine at the nation’s only Federal health university, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, MD. His principal interests are in both Complementary and Integrative Health & Medicine (CIHM) in the shift from a disease management-focused healthcare system to one more centered on the improvement and sustainment of health & well-being leading to optimal human performance and in leadership education. He is examining the incorporation of CIHM education and training into the education of physicians and other health & healthcare professionals. Doctor Schoomaker is also exploring the central importance of leadership education and training for health professionals, so as to realize USU’s vision as the nation’s “health leadership academy”.
Doctor Schoomaker committed his career to meeting the health needs of soldiers, their families and veterans through initiatives that Army Medicine implemented throughout its facilities in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific, focusing on soldier medical readiness, enhancing battlefield care, establishing a comprehensive behavioral health system of care, fostering a culture of trust, advancing comprehensive pain management, and promoting health by preventing combat wounds, injury and illness.
Doctor Schoomaker is an internal medicine physician with a PhD in Human Genetics. In uniform he held many assignments including command of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, the Army’s Medical Research & Materiel Command and Fort Detrick, MD, an Army academic medical center, a community hospital, deployable medical brigade and two Army regional medical commands.
Doctor Schoomaker is the recipient of numerous military awards, including those from France and Germany, the 2012 Dr. Nathan Davis Awards from the American Medical Association for outstanding government service, an Honorary Doctor of Science from Wake Forest University, a Doctor of Letters in Medicine from the Baylor College of Medicine, and the Philipp M. Lippe Award from the American Academy of Pain Medicine for outstanding contributions to the social and political aspect of Pain Medicine.
He is married to Audrey, a former Army Nurse Corps Officer and therapeutic yoga instructor; they have a high school-aged son and two daughters, one currently in college and the other pursuing graduate studies in teaching & education.
