Cato Laurencin is a physician, surgeon, scientist, engineer, and one of two University Professors at the University of Connecticut. He is just the 8th University Professor in the institution’s almost 140-year history and as such holds the school’s highest academic title. Dr. Laurencin also serves … Read MoreCato Thomas Laurencin (1959- )
Dr. Ruth Smith Lloyd was the first African American woman in the United States to obtain a doctorate in Anatomy. She earned her degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Ruth Smith Lloyd was born on January 17, 1917, in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Mary … Read MoreRuth Smith Lloyd (1917-1995)
Dr. Charles Victor Roman was an author, physician, historian, medical school professor, and civil rights activist. He was also the first physician of African ancestry from North America to receive training in both ophthalmology and otolaryngology. Roman was born on July 4, 1864, in Williamsport, … Read MoreCharles Victor Roman (1864–1934)
Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu is a Nigerian-American doctor who is best known for discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain injury affecting former National Football League players, among others. Omalu’s discovery and the reaction to it prompted the 2015 film Concussion starringt the actor Will Smith. … Read MoreBennet Ifeakandu Omalu (1968- )
Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown was a medical pioneer, educator, and community leader. In 1948-1949 Brown became the first African American female appointed to a general surgery residency in the de jure racially segregated South. In 1956 Brown became the first unmarried woman in Tennessee authorized … Read MoreDorothy Lavinia Brown (1919-2004)
Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. was a cardiac surgeon who, in 1980, performed the first implantation of an automatic defibrillator into a human heart. He was also a professor of cardiac surgery and associate dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Watkins … Read MoreLevi Watkins Jr. (1944-2015)
Dr. Jane Cooke Wright was a physician and cancer researcher who dedicated her professional career to the advancement of chemotherapy techniques. Wright was born in New York City, New York on November 20, 1919. She was the older of two daughters to parents Louis Tompkins … Read MoreJane Cooke Wright (1919-2013)
Solomon Carter Fuller, an early 20th century psychiatrist, researcher, and medical educator, was born on August 11, 1872 in Monrovia, Liberia. His parents, Solomon C. and Anna Ursilla (James) Fuller, were Americo-Liberians. Solomon Carter Fuller was the first African American psychiatrist. He also performed considerable … Read MoreSolomon Carter Fuller (1872-1953)
William Warrick Cardozo, physician, and pediatrician, was a pioneer investigator of sickle cell anemia and a leader in medical research of problems affecting people of African descent. Cardozo, born in Washington, D.C., on April 6, 1905, came from a prominent family of educators and politicians; … Read MoreWilliam Warrick Cardozo (1905-1962)
Dr. Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson was the first female physician to pass the Alabama state medical examination and was the first woman physician at Tuskegee Institute. She was the eldest of nine children born to African Methodist Episcopal bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and Sarah Elizabeth … Read MoreHalle Tanner Dillon Johnson (1864-1901)
