In October 2020, Sylvia Trent Adams, Ph.D. received the prestigious Technologist of the Year award. She was recognized as a champion of the greater appreciation of science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine, particularly for underrepresented minorities, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

During the summer of 2022, the University of North Texas System Board of Regents announced the selection of Dr. Trent-Adams as the sole finalist for president of The University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC) at Fort Worth. She is the first Black woman to serve as president and CEO of the university.

A lifetime public servant, Trent-Adams began her public health career in 1992 by joining the Commissioned Corps before ultimately retiring in 2020 from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps with the rank of Rear Admiral Upper Half. Prior to her joining the U.S. Public Health Service, Trent-Adams was a nurse officer in the U.S. Army and a research nurse at the University of Maryland.

Immediately prior to joining HSC, Trent-Adams served as principal deputy assistant secretary for health from January 2019 through August 2020. Trent-Adams served from 2015 to 2018 as the deputy surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She was a trusted advisor to the Surgeon General, providing support on a variety of critical issues, including efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

Before serving as deputy surgeon general, Trent-Adams was deputy associate administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration. Through this role, she helped manage the $2.3 billion Ryan White HIV/Aids program, which funds care, treatment, referrals, and support services for uninsured and underserved people living with HIV, as well as training for healthcare professionals.

In 2017, Trent-Adams earned the International Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international honor bestowed upon a nurse. She also was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for her leadership during the Commissioned Corps response to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa and the Surgeon General’s Medallion for service as acting surgeon general from April to September 2017.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Hampton University, a Master of Science in Nursing and Health Policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a fellow in the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Nursing, National Academy of Practice, and the NLN Academy of Nursing Education.