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campus portal
![Physician Assistant program faculty and staff](/Community/blackhistory/images/BHM_2023_Header.jpg)
8 Influential Persons in Health, Science & Innovation
![Dr. William Hinton](/Community/blackhistory/images/WilliamHinton.jpg)
Dr. William Hinton
Dr. William Hinton graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1912. He became a world-renowned expert in
the diagnosis and care of syphilis. In 1927, he developed a test to check for syphilis,
known as the Hinton test. The test was then endorsed by the U.S. Public Health Service.
Appointed an Instructor of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene at Harvard Medical School
in 1918, William Hinton became the first African-American Professor at Harvard University
in 1949.
![Dr. Lena Edwards](/Community/blackhistory/images/LenaEdwardsFrancis.jpg)
Dr. Lena Edwards
Dr. Lena Edwards was one of the first African American women to be board-certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist
as well as to gain admission to the International College of Surgeons. Throughout
her career she served the poor, lobbying for better health care for anyone who needed
it, regardless of what they could afford.
![Dr. Louis Sullivan](/Community/blackhistory/images/LouisSullivan.jpg)
Dr. Louis Sullivan
Dr. Louis Sullivan was the only black student in his class at Boston University School of Medicine. In
1975, he became the founding dean of . Later, Sullivan
was tapped to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
where he directed the creation of the Office of Minority Programs in the National
Institutes of Health’s Office of the Director.
![Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice](/Community/blackhistory/images/VMR_2023.jpg)
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice is an American obstetrician, gynecologist, and President and CEO at Morehouse School
of Medicine. Dr. Montgomery Rice is from Georgia and completed a bachelor’s degree
in chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1987, she earned a medical degree
from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Montgomery Rice conducted research at Harvard on
using purified hormones to induce ovulation in mice. Also, she completed a residency
in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University and conducted a fellowship in reproductive
endocrinology and infertility at Hutzel Women’s Hospital.
![Dr. Eliza Ann Grier](/Community/blackhistory/images/ElizaGrier.jpg)
Dr. Eliza Ann Grier
Dr. Eliza Ann Grier, born enslaved in North Carolina, earned her M.D., and in 1898 she became the first
Black woman to practice medicine in Georgia. It took her 8-years to finish her bachelor’s
degree in education from Fisk University in 1891 because she took every other year
off to pick cotton and perform other work to earn her tuition to continue her studies.
![Dr. James McCune Smith](/Community/blackhistory/images/JamesMcCune.jpg)
Dr. James McCune Smith
Dr. James McCune Smith was the first African American MD to practice medicine in the United States. He devoted
his life to healing the sick and freeing his fellow African Americans from the bondage
and atrocities of slavery and is most widely known for writing the introduction to
Frederick Douglass’s “My Bondage My Freedom”
![Dr. Patricia Bath](/Community/blackhistory/images/PatriciaBath23.jpg)
Dr. Patricia Bath
Dr. Patricia Bath invented laserphaco, a new device and technique to remove cataracts. It performed
all steps of cataract removal: making the incision, destroying the lens and vacuuming
out the fractured pieces. Bath is recognized as the first Black woman physician to
receive a medical patent.
![Dr. David Satcher](/Community/blackhistory/images/DavidSatcher23.jpg)
Dr. David Satcher
Dr. David Satcher became the first African American Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). A physician-scientist and public health administrator, Dr. Satcher
was a Four Star Admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
He was the 16th Surgeon General of the United States and former Secretary for Health
in the Department of Health and Human Services. He was the second person in history
to hold both posts simultaneously.