Bowen, Clotilde Dent
1923-2011 · Contribution: 1947-1970s
First Black physician to hold a U.S. military commission; first woman to command a U.S. military hospital
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Impact on the world
Became the first African-American woman to graduate in medicine from Ohio State University, the first Black physician to hold a military commission, the first woman to command a U.S. military hospital, and the first African-American woman to reach the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army.
Life & background
A psychiatrist, Bowen became the first African-American woman to graduate in medicine from Ohio State University in 1947. She went on to become the first Black physician to hold a U.S. military commission, the first woman to command a U.S. military hospital, and the first African-American woman to attain the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army, a remarkable sequence of firsts across both medicine and military leadership.
Sources
- The Ohio State University (Medical Heritage Center); American Psychiatric Association Foundation
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