2017 UG Commencement Program

23 D istinguished H onoree C ommencement S peaker Daniel Dawes , J.D., is the executive director of government relations, health policy and external affairs at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He also serves as general counsel, senior adviser, and lecturer at Morehouse’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute and Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine. Dawes played an instrumental role in shaping the Mental Health Parity Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Dawes founded and chaired the National Working Group on Health Disparities and Health Reform. The group worked to ensure that the Affordable Care Act included measures to address disparities in health care and health status among racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, children, LGBTQ individuals, and others. He also is the cofounder of Health Equity Leadership and Exchange Network (HELEN), which is a national network of health equity champions. In 2016, Dawes published 150 Years of Obamacare , which explores the backstory of how health equity, mental health, and health reform movements coalesced to produce the Affordable Care Act. Offering an insider’s perspective, he debunks contemporary understandings of health reform. He provides a comprehensive review of the health equity movement and the little-known leadership efforts crucial to passing public policies and laws reforming mental health, minority health, and universal health. Prior to joining the Morehouse School of Medicine, Dawes worked as an attorney, senior legislative and federal affairs officer, and a health law and policy adviser in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Dawes is the recipient of several awards, including the 2017 Families USA Health Equity Advocate Award, the 2016 NMQF Minority Health Leader Award, the Congressional Black Caucus Leadership in Advocacy Award, the University of Nebraska Master Alumni Award, the American Psychological Association Exceptional Leadership in Advocacy Award, the Gift of Life Healthcare Vanguard Award, and the SHIRE Health Reform Champion Award. He was also a 2016 Harvard University HEAL lecturer, a 2013 Distinguished Bowman Lecturer at the University of Chicago, and a 2012 Distinguished Bellos Lecturer at Yale University. Dawes received Bachelor of Science degrees in both Psychology and Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in 2003. He earned his J.D. at the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2006. He serves on several boards, commissions, and councils focused on health equity and health reform and is the author of several publications.