First Black woman to graduate from Howard University College of Medicine and one of the earliest Black women physicians in North America.

Pioneer in sickle cell disease research and founder of Howard’s Center for Sickle Cell Disease, one of the country’s earliest comprehensive sickle cell centers.

National authority on substance abuse, civil-rights advocate, longtime Howard professor, and founding president of the Student National Medical Association.

First African American and first woman certified to practice medicine by the Virginia State Board of Medicine; helped establish the institution that became Richmond Community Hospital.

Internationally recognized surgical oncologist; first African American president of the American Cancer Society and later the American College of Surgeons. He graduated first in his HUCM class.

First African American woman gastroenterologist in the United States and a pioneer in academic gastroenterology and medical education. She graduated with HUCM’s centennial class.

Pioneering obstetrician who provided care to underserved communities and became nationally recognized for her medical service and advocacy.

First Nigerian neurosurgeon trained in the United States and a foundational figure in the development of neurosurgery in Africa.

Ophthalmologist, inventor, and laser scientist; first Black woman physician to receive a medical patent and a pioneer in preventing and treating blindness.

Influential physician-anthropologist, anatomist, medical historian, educator, and civil-rights leader who used science to challenge racial discrimination.

Transplant-surgery pioneer and founder of the Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program, which addressed racial disparities in organ donation and transplantation.