Medical Pioneer. He developed a method for storing blood in plasma form; the technique, which is still in use today, has saved untold numbers of lives. After attending Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he was an All-American football player, he taught biology for a time at Morgan College in Baltimore, Maryland. With the money he saved, he entered McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and earned his medical degree. In 1935, he joined the faculty of Howard University in Washington, DC where he taught pathology. He left Howard for Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, New York. His dissertation for his Ph.D. at Columbia focused on a method of storing blood as plasma-that is, without red and white blood cells. He supervised the blood-plasma division of New York's Blood Transfusion Association, and was named director of the blood bank for the National Research Council in 1941. In that position, he was responsible for the armed forces' blood supply during World War II. Dismayed by the government policy that decreed recipients and donors had to be of the same race, he returned to Howard University and served as chief surgeon at Freedman's Hospital. In 1944, he was promoted to chief of staff and medical director. He died in an automobile accident on the way to a medical conference in 1950. He was honored on a 35-cent United States postage stamp by the United States Postal Service in their 1980 to 1985 "Great Americans" series.
Medical Pioneer. He developed a method for storing blood in plasma form; the technique, which is still in use today, has saved untold numbers of lives. After attending Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he was an All-American football player, he taught biology for a time at Morgan College in Baltimore, Maryland. With the money he saved, he entered McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and earned his medical degree. In 1935, he joined the faculty of Howard University in Washington, DC where he taught pathology. He left Howard for Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, New York. His dissertation for his Ph.D. at Columbia focused on a method of storing blood as plasma-that is, without red and white blood cells. He supervised the blood-plasma division of New York's Blood Transfusion Association, and was named director of the blood bank for the National Research Council in 1941. In that position, he was responsible for the armed forces' blood supply during World War II. Dismayed by the government policy that decreed recipients and donors had to be of the same race, he returned to Howard University and served as chief surgeon at Freedman's Hospital. In 1944, he was promoted to chief of staff and medical director. He died in an automobile accident on the way to a medical conference in 1950. He was honored on a 35-cent United States postage stamp by the United States Postal Service in their 1980 to 1985 "Great Americans" series.
Bio by: Curtis Jackson
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