Name Jack White | ||
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Died July 2, 1988(1988-07-02) (aged 66)Washington, D.C. Institutions | ||
Jack E. White (July 24, 1921 – July 2, 1988) was an American physician and a pioneering black cancer surgeon. The first black physician to train in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, White later directed the cancer center at Howard University College of Medicine. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1977.
Biography
Born in Stuart, Florida, White attended Florida A&M College and Howard University College of Medicine. White, a World War II veteran, trained at the Freedmen's Hospital in Washington and at Memorial Hospital in New York (later known as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) before taking a faculty position at Howard. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, he became the first black physician to complete training in surgical oncology there. He mentored LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., who was a future Howard faculty member and a future president of the American Cancer Society.
White became director of Howard's cancer center as well as its cancer training and research programs. He served on drug advisory panels for the Food and Drug Administration, and he was a consultant to several foreign countries. He retired from Howard in 1986, but he continued to serve as a cancer adviser to groups in Washington, D.C.
In 1977, White was elected to the Institute of Medicine. He died of cancer in 1988. He was recognized by the American Cancer Society for "outstanding service to the cause of cancer control."