President Biden taps Baldwin native Mandy Cohen to lead the CDC

She was a very talented musician and a very bright young lady, respected by all her peers.”

Melinda Edwards former Baldwin High School concert choir teacher

President Biden recently announced that he has appointed Mandy Cohen — who was known for her musical talents when she attended Baldwin High School — as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cohen, considered one of the nation’s top physicians, will replace current CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. Cohen, who has served as secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, was set to step down last Friday to become the CDC’s 20th director.

“Her leadership through the Covid-19 crisis drew bipartisan praise, as did her successful transformation of North Carolina’s Medicaid program and pivotal role in the bipartisan passage of Medicaid expansion,” Biden said in a news release. “Before serving in North Carolina, Dr. Cohen held senior roles at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where she helped implement Affordable Care Act programs, including expanding insurance coverage and protections.”

Cohen, 44, who grew up in Baldwin, graduated from Cornell University, and earned a medical degree from Yale School of Medicine and a master’s from the Harvard School of Public Health. She also trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Cohen attended Plaza Elementary School and Baldwin High School, graduating in 1996. Before diving into the medical field, she was regarded as one of the best musicians in her class.

“She was a very talented musician and a very bright young lady, respected by all her peers,” Melinda Edwards, who directed the high school Concert Choir, said. “I would say she’s probably one of the most outstanding students that I ever had.”

Cohen was in Edwards’ choir class for all four years of high school, and, coincidentally, Edwards retired the same year Cohen graduated.

As a surprise for Edwards’ retirement, Cohen gathered the choir and led them in a sing-along of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” 

Cohen was the soprano soloist when she was a senior, and also played the violin in the high school orchestra.

“She was the soprano section leader, which means that she would be very helpful to the less talented members of the group,” Edwards said. “She would help them learn their parts, and she interacted with the other kids very well.”

Cohen won a scholarship from the Baldwin Foundation for Education, which was created four years before she graduated, and accepts donations that fund a variety of scholarships.

Cohen was given $500 by the foundation because she was an “outstanding student,” according to Robert B.A. Schoen, the foundation’s president.

“It’s funny, because Mandy is famous for being a scientist — obviously she took AP course, etcetera — but among her peers, she was known for her musical ability,” said Schoen, who was a board member of the foundation when Cohen was a senior. “She came from a musical family. Her brother was in the band and musicals.”

When Schoen found out that Cohen had been appointed to direct the CDC, he said, “We’re lucky as a nation to have such a kind person. She’s just a very grounded individual.”

Edwards said she was “very proud” when she learned about her former student’s next career move. “She’s such a capable person,” Edwards said.

“And she isn’t an elitist. She interacts with other people so well, and I’m sure that’s one of the traits that has gotten her as far as she has gotten.”

Edwards said that the position of CDC director is a “daunting task,” but if anyone can handle it, Cohen can. Edwards added that Cohen is well organized and smart, and that her ability to work with others will make her a very successful director.