Portrait
Rachel Levine
Born
28 October 1957Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA
Physician and public health officialUnited States

Rachel Levine

A paediatrician who became the first openly transgender official confirmed by the US Senate – and the first trans four-star admiral.

Rachel Levine grew up in a Jewish family near Boston. She studied at Harvard and Tulane University and became a paediatrician specialising in adolescent medicine and eating disorders. For many years she taught at Penn State College of Medicine.

She transitioned in 2011. In 2015 she was appointed Physician General of Pennsylvania, and in 2017 Secretary of Health of the state. During the COVID-19 pandemic she led Pennsylvania’s response and was the target of transphobic attacks, which she met with calm.

In 2021 the US Senate confirmed her as Assistant Secretary for Health – the first openly transgender person confirmed by the Senate. In the same year she became a four-star admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the first openly trans person to hold that rank in any of the uniformed services. She served until 2025.

Levine has campaigned for health equity and for access to medical care for LGBTQ young people.

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