--- description: Joycelyn Elders is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Joycelyn Elders: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5eb7076e21db561/698a0aed457a52d8a9d639c2/social-1994_Joycelyn-Elders.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1994: Joycelyn Elders Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT  Courtesy Health Services Research Library, National Institutes of Health by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT Raised in a poor Arkansas farming family, Joycelyn Elders didn’t visit a doctor until she was 16 years old. But she went to medical school and, in 1993, became the first African American and the second woman to be named U.S. Surgeon General. Elders kept pushing boundaries while in office, advocating for robust sex education and studies on drug legalization—and drawing critics. Not even then President Bill Clinton was ready for her progressive views on sexuality—he asked her to resign in 1994, after she argued masturbation should be discussed in school sex ed. Today, many of her views are more mainstream. Recently, the now 86-year-old doctor has adopted a new cause: advocating for more black physicians in the medical field. _—Jamie Ducharme_ --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793727/joycelyn-elders-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793727/joycelyn-elders-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1994: Joycelyn Elders","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:40:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:41.528Z","description":"Joycelyn Elders is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793727/joycelyn-elders-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5eb7076e21db561/698a0aed457a52d8a9d639c2/social-1994_Joycelyn-Elders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5eb7076e21db561/698a0aed457a52d8a9d639c2/social-1994_Joycelyn-Elders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1994 Joycelyn-Elders","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793727/joycelyn-elders-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1994: Joycelyn Elders"}}]}] ```