Michael E. Bird, MSW, MPH

Michael E. Bird is a Kewa Pueblo Indian from New Mexico. He is the first American Indian and social worker to serve as President (2000-2001) of the American Public Health Association in the organization’s history.  

Mr. Bird has more than 30 years of public health experience with Native American populations. He served in various capacities with the USPHS Indian Health Service for 20 years. He was Executive Director of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, and was the first Native member of the National Policy Council at AARP, where he served for six years. Mr. Bird continues since 2007 as a member of the Health Advisory Committee for the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health in Canada.  

Mr. Bird earned a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Utah, and a master’s degree in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018 he was recognized by the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health as one of 75 Most Influential Alumni in the 75-year history of the school of public health.