Dr. Linda Rae Murray

Dr. Linda Rae Murray has spent her career serving the medically underserved. She has worked in a variety of settings including Medical Director of the federally funded health center, Winfield Moody, which served Cabrini Green Public Housing Project in Chicago, Residency Director for Occupational Medicine at Meharry Medical College and Bureau Chief for the Chicago Department of Health under Mayor Harold Washington.

Currently, Dr. Murray is the Chief Medical Officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health. She practices as a general internist at Woodlawn Health Center, is an attending physician in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Cook County Hospital and is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health (Occupational & Environmental Health and the Health Policy & Administration departments).

A native of Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Murray graduated from Collinwood High School. She enrolled at UIC, earning her B.S. degree in mathematics, an MD from the College of Medicine and an MPH from the School of Public Health. She later continued her education in the doctoral program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Murray has been an active member of a wide range of local and national organizations including serving as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Board of Directors of Trinity Health (a large Catholic Health system). She also serves on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety & Health.

Dr. Murray plays a leadership role in many organizations including the National Association of City and County Health Officers Health Equity and Social Justice Team, the national executive board of American Public Health Association and serves on the board of the Chicago based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group. In 2011, Dr. Murray served as President of the American Public Health Association. She is the Co-Chair for the Urban Health Program Community Advisory Committee at UIC.

Dr. Murray has been a voice for social justice and health care as a basic human right for over forty years. She remains passionate about increasing the number of Black and Latino health professionals.