WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — “We are pleased to welcome Michael J. Astrue to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health,” said Augustine C. Baca, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the nation’s leading health advocacy working for the best health outcomes for all. Mr. Baca added, “Mr. Astrue brings extensive executive experience and insight from his private sector work and government service.” Mr. Astrue commented, “I look forward to strengthening the Alliance’s capacity to meet its mission.”
Most recently Mr. Astrue served as interim CEO of InVivo Therapeutics. Previously he served as Commissioner of Social Security from 2007 to 2013. The Social Security Administration is an independent federal agency with over 62,000 employees nationwide.
Early in his career, Mr. Astrue worked for Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania and evaluated federal demonstration projects for both the National Council of Senior Citizens and a support center of the Legal Services Corporation. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Walter J. Skinner in the Federal District Court of Massachusetts. His past public service includes being General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He successfully tried the first federal HIV discrimination enforcement case and successfully argued the first federal patient dumping enforcement case. While General Counsel of HHS, he had a concurrent appointment on the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board during the period when the Board issued many of the first regulations under the Americans with Disability Act.
An individual with unique talents Mr. Astrue under the pseudonym A.M. Juster wrote a book of poetry, The Secret Language of Women, which was the recipient of the 2002 Richard Wilbur Award. Mr. Astrue is an honors graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.
About the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (The Alliance)
The Alliance is the nation’s foremost science-based source of information and trusted advocate for the best health outcomes for all. For more information, visit http://www.hispanichealth.org or call the Alliance’s Su Familia National Hispanic Family Health Helpline at 1-866-783-2645.