Edward E. Cornwell III, MD, FACS, FCCM.
This endowed chair was created as a tribute to Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., who was the professor and chairman of the department of surgery at Howard University from 1970-1995. Leffall himself occupied the Charles R. Drew endowed chair in surgery at Howard from 1992 to present. His contributions to American and, indeed, international surgery were the equal of any surgical leader in the world during his half-century academic career, which was devoted to the study and treatment of cancer, particularly among African Americans. He was the first African-American president of the following organizations: American Cancer Society, Society of Surgical Oncology, Society of Surgical Chairmen and the American College of Surgeons. In 1995, the LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., surgical society was formed by friends, colleagues and his former students and residents, and the Leffall Chair in Surgery was established in 1996. In 2005, the Howard University Press published his memoirs entitled, No Boundaries-A Cancer Surgeon's Odyssey.
D004219:District of Columbia; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000266:history; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000266:history; D014481:United States