Sandra L. Thurman was appointed by the president as the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy at the White House in 1997. For nearly two decades, Thurman has been a leader and advocate for people with AIDS at the local, state, and federal levels. She has served as the director of Citizen Exchanges at the U.S. Information Agency and as executive director of AID Atlanta.
Thurman was a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and was a founding member of Cities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief. She has served on the board of directors of numerous AIDS organizations and other health-related organizations including the March of Dimes and the National Kidney Foundation. She is one of the world's leading experts on AIDS issues and has provided testimony before the U.S. Congress, the White House Conference on HIV/AIDS, and the National Commission on AIDS.