with Michael Leavitt on Feb 14, 2007
with Michael Leavitt, Julie Gerberding, Paul Nurse and more on Mar 22, 2006
Michael Okerlund Leavitt is an American politician, and is currently the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A Republican, Leavitt was the 14th Governor of the state of Utah. He was first elected in 1992, then he was re-elected in 1996 and in 2000 became only the second governor in Utah history to be re-elected to a third term. While governor, Leavitt and Roy Romer of Colorado were the two key founders of Western Governors University (WGU) one of the first exclusively online schools in the nation.
Leavitt was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at a press conference in Aurora, Colorado. He was sworn in as the 10th Administrator of the EPA the following day. On December 13, 2004, Leavitt was nominated by Bush to succeed Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services and was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote on January 26, 2005.
Mr. Leavitt has described the avian flu virus as the most serious threat to American security. Mr. Leavitt’s cited the work of the World Health Organization’s Dr. Michael McCoy as the most probative scientific work into the threat of the avian flu. Leavitt also serves on the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
