Hubert-Yeargan Advisory Committee

Willard (Ward) Cates, Jr., MD

President, Family Health International

Dr. Cates graduated from Yale University in 1964 with a major in history. He received an Ehrman Scholarship to attend Kings' College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, and he obtained a master's degree in history in 1966. He returned to Yale University School of Medicine in 1966, graduating in 1971 with a combined MD-MPH degree. His clinical training in internal medicine took place at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.

In 1974, Dr. Cates joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Abortion Surveillance Branch, serving as Chief from 1975 to 1982. He then became director of the Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Under his leadership, the Division integrated HIV-prevention activities into sexually transmitted disease (STD) control programs. In 1991, he became director of the CDC's Division of Training to oversee its scientific training functions, including the Epidemic Intelligence Service program and the Preventive Medicine Residency. In 1994, he joined Family Health International in North Carolina. He is currently President/CEO of its Institute for Family Health.

Dr. Cates is board-certified in general preventive medicine, specializing in epidemiology. He is an adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emory University, and the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. He has authored or coauthored over 400 scientific publications, including 160 original contributions. He coauthored Contraceptive Technology and was the coeditor of Sexually Transmitted Diseases , 2nd ed. Dr. Cates also has been on the editorial boards of 8 scientific journals. Dr. Cates is a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and chairs the Executive Committee for the National Institute of Health (NIH) HIV Prevention Trials Network.

In 1979, Dr. Cates received the Shultz Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for his research contributing to the health of American women. In 1985 and 1990, he received the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award from the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), respectively, for his contributions to diversity among his staff. In 1986, he was elected to the American Epidemiological Society. In 1987, he received the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award. In 1991, he was selected by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America to receive the Arthur and Edith Wippman Scientific Research Award, the only non-bench scientist to have done so. In 1998, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine. In 2003, he received the Thomas Parran Award from the American STD Association. In 2004, he was chosen by the Yale School of Public Health for its Distinguished Alumnus Award.