Helene D. Gayle, M.D.
Helene Gayle is the 11th President of Spelman College. Just prior to joining Spelman, she was the president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust. She was also president and CEO of CARE following a long career in public health with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Gates Foundation. Five generations of Gayle’s family, beginning with her grandmother taking her mother and uncle as children, have frequently visited Chautauqua; the younger generations now make it an annual tradition. She has been a Chautauqua Lecture Series speaker several times, and has been intimately involved in launching the African American Heritage House.