Profiles of Bravery
Lt. Gen. Nadja West
2016: First black female lieutenant general and the highest-ranking woman to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy
West became the first black surgeon general of the U.S. Army, Dec. 11, 2015. In 2013, West was also the first black female major general of the Army's active component, and was Army Medicine's first African-American female two-star general. West is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. She attended the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where she earned a Doctorate of Medicine degree.